![\"Where](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/where-to-get-help-for-domestic-violence-K7L2TRNBK5FUTKZHOGGTZ3DWVI.png\")
<\/p>\nA teenage survivor of domestic violence has braved snow, wind, and rain to complete a 300km run from Christchurch to Timaru and back again.<\/p>\n
Rhys Blissett broke down in tears when he crossed the finish line at Hagley Park after almost four days running. <\/p>\n
The 18-year-old wanted to raise awareness and funds for Women\u2019s Refuge, an organisation that had supported his family throughout much of his life.<\/p>\n
Last year, Blissett did a round trip run from Rolleston to Ashburton to help other survivors, raising $16,000.<\/p>\n
Women\u2019s Refuge received 50,000 referrals each year.<\/p>\n
Blissett told 1News that domestic violence towards women and children wasn’t talked about enough, and was an issue close to his heart.<\/p>\n
“In my past, I’ve always felt like I was very alone dealing with that I think it’s quite cool that people are reconnecting and sharing their story that relates to mine as well.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Where to get help for domestic violence. (Source: 1News)<\/p>\n
Blissett said training had been increased in the lead-up to the run, with more time hitting the pavement and the gym.<\/p>\n
He said he had a support team travel alongside him, and friends who joined him at various points.<\/p>\n
Blissett completed a pre-police training course last year and eventually wanted to apply for the Royal New Zealand Police College.<\/p>\n
He said, throughout his experience with domestic violence, it was the police who were “there once a week”.<\/p>\n
“I looked up to them quite a lot as like, you know, guardians and protectors,” he said. “I think I looked up to them so much that I decided that I wanted to become them and help families \u2026 be that protector to another child one day and stand up against violence.”<\/p>\n
People can donate to Blissett’s fundraiser through his Givealittle page: “300km Run For Women’s Refuge”.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A teenage survivor of domestic violence has braved snow, wind, and rain to complete a 300km run from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":105019,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[158,111,43,139,69,550],"class_list":{"0":"post-105018","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-zealand","8":"tag-christchurch-canterbury","9":"tag-new-zealand","10":"tag-news","11":"tag-newzealand","12":"tag-nz","13":"tag-social-issues"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105018","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=105018"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105018\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/105019"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=105018"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=105018"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=105018"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}