\u201cStraight away when you say cancer, you think of the worst,\u201d Devon said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s no way you cannot think of the worst, but it just came across as, like a, just a kick in the gut so hard that you couldn\u2019t breathe.\u201d<\/p>\n
Devon said his usually outgoing dad became very quiet.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was trying to deal with everything that was going on because my grandfather passed away from cancer as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
The situation was made harder as the family do not know how much time Keith has, Devon explained.<\/p>\n
Keith reportedly had two recent close calls while in hospital undergoing stem cell harvesting. <\/p>\n
Devon\u2019s mum and Keith\u2019s wife of 48 years, Shelly Anne, called her son, preparing him for the worst.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just about completely fell apart on the phone,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cDad has always been there, with a big bushy beard and a big heart.\u201d<\/p>\n
The next time Devon saw his dad he made the most of the moment.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou know those big bear hugs that you get that you feel like every bone\u2019s going to break in your body? That\u2019s pretty much what we did.\u201d<\/p>\n
Devon described his dad as absolutely devoted to his family.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s always taught me you look after the people that you love.\u201d<\/p>\n
Devon Hartley (centre) with his dad Keith and mum Shelly Anne.<\/p>\n
Keith had been a navy man. He was a commander in South Africa for 26 years.<\/p>\n
He and Shelly Anne had moved about 27 times \u2013 four of those to other countries.<\/p>\n
Devon said his dad moved the family from South Africa to New Zealand in 1999 so they could grow up somewhere safe.<\/p>\n
The couple went from Auckland to Arthur\u2019s Pass to Franz Josef before crossing the Tasman only to return again to call Kerikeri home.<\/p>\n
Devon said while seemingly full of adventure, there had been ups and downs. For example, the couple lost their tiny home during Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey had to find alternative accommodation in a granny flat because of mum and dad\u2019s age.\u201d <\/p>\n
Keith had just had hip replacement surgery too.<\/p>\n
A tackle-shop business started by Devon, Keith and another man went awry.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve been through a lot, a hell of a lot to be honest,\u201d Devon said.<\/p>\n
The family continue to endure tough times.<\/p>\n
Keith has undergone four cycles of chemotherapy at Whang\u0101rei Hospital\u2019s Jim Carney Cancer Centre<\/a> and one cycle at Auckland City Hospital.<\/p>\n Next month he will travel to Auckland for another round of chemotherapy. There will also be more stem cell harvesting.<\/p>\n Keith said if stem cells are successfully harvested then they will be transplanted into him, during which he will be in isolation for a month.<\/p>\n \u201cMy wife has been personally with me every step of the way, having to take all of her leave and sick leave to do this, and soon will be taking unpaid leave when this runs out. And then, we can only be hopeful,\u201d Keith said.<\/p>\n Devon said Shelly Anne has taken almost two-and-a-half months of unpaid leave from her aged-worker role.<\/p>\n \u201cDad\u2019s used up all of his savings to be down there.\u201d<\/p>\n Devon created a Givealittle page<\/a> as a way to ease their financial burden. He wanted to help his parents so that Shelly Anne – Keith\u2019s \u201cbest friend\u201d – could stay with her husband rather than return to Northland<\/a> to work.<\/p>\n \u201cOne thing I can tell you about my dad is that he\u2019s always willing to help out where he can, but he will never ask for help,\u201d Devon said.<\/p>\n When Keith learned of what his son was doing, he protested, saying they would figure something out.<\/p>\n Devon told his dad that Keith wasn\u2019t asking for help, he was.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is for my dad, my father, my role model, my hero,\u201d Devon said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cStraight away when you say cancer, you think of the worst,\u201d Devon said. \u201cThere\u2019s no way you cannot…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":301102,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[2534,49325,42834,9881,2209,15124,3011,49475,5838,1739,424,7239,111,43,139,69,22639,5433,1886,61,1869,102],"class_list":{"0":"post-301101","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-zealand","8":"tag-cancer","9":"tag-dad","10":"tag-dying","11":"tag-facing","12":"tag-father","13":"tag-fight","14":"tag-four","15":"tag-givealittle","16":"tag-help","17":"tag-launches","18":"tag-life","19":"tag-mission","20":"tag-new-zealand","21":"tag-news","22":"tag-newzealand","23":"tag-nz","24":"tag-son","25":"tag-stage","26":"tag-support","27":"tag-to","28":"tag-whangrei","29":"tag-with"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/301101","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=301101"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/301101\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/301102"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=301101"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=301101"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=301101"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Shelly Anne with her husband of 48 years, Keith.<\/p>\n