{"id":532646,"date":"2026-07-18T18:52:09","date_gmt":"2026-07-18T18:52:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/532646\/"},"modified":"2026-07-18T18:52:09","modified_gmt":"2026-07-18T18:52:09","slug":"air-new-zealand-captains-dream-career-in-limbo-after-brain-cancer-diagnosis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/532646\/","title":{"rendered":"Air New Zealand captain\u2019s dream career in limbo after brain cancer diagnosis"},"content":{"rendered":"

With Beatson now looking to specialist care and unfunded treatments, while facing a high-risk second surgery and the possibility of further procedures overseas, Waddington set up a Givealittle page<\/a> last week to cover the climbing costs.<\/p>\n

\"ScottyScotty Beatson says he had wanted to be a pilot since he was a young boy. Photo \/ Givealittle<\/p>\n

It raised more than $115,000 in its first 24 hours and had since climbed past $168,000.<\/p>\n

Beatson told the Herald that with no prior symptoms, his diagnosis came out of the blue.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe biggest thing personally in my journey is just how instantaneous it was,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis type of cancer, and particularly the location of mine being near my motor cortex, has had so many flow-on effects in terms of day-to-day living for me. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt immediately stripped my career away, it immediately stripped my ability to drive. And every time I have any sort of seizure activity, which I\u2019m continuing to have a year on since the first operation, it resets the clock another year for my driving.\u201d<\/p>\n

Beatson had wanted to be a pilot since he was a young boy, but less than a year after Air New Zealand promoted him to captain, doctors told him he would not fly a plane again.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was a moment of absolute, utter shock,\u201d Beatson said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was like I was in a nightmare … Having that torn away was just absolutely heartbreaking.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"BeatsonBeatson with his fiancee Mia and son Kip. Photo \/ Givealittle<\/p>\n

When doctors shared the sobering news, Beatson remembered thinking about his family, career and future.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt all went through my head so quickly that the fear and the overwhelming [feeling] just took over.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite the diagnosis, Beatson said choosing to visit after-hours that day \u201cwas an absolute blessing, because I could have been sent home and been none the wiser\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously, with my job, we have to be pretty careful with head knocks … it\u2019s pretty incredible that it was found like that.\u201d<\/p>\n

While initially told his tumour was low-grade, Beatson\u2019s surgery in October included a biopsy that identified more aggressive cells and it was upgraded to grade 3.<\/p>\n

Adding to the complexities, doctors were unable to remove the tumour in full because of its location.<\/p>\n

Since then, the couple have been weighing their options and seeking second opinions on what to do next.<\/p>\n

Beatson is on the waitlist to undergo a high-risk surgery in Christchurch, which could potentially compromise his left-side function or trigger paralysis.<\/p>\n

\"AA Givealittle page for Beatson raised more than $114,000 in its first 24 hours after it was set up by his fiancee Mia. Photo \/ Givealittle<\/p>\n

He\u2019ll likely undergo chemotherapy and radiation afterwards, before considering whether to explore further treatment.<\/p>\n

Many promising treatment methods they\u2019ve looked at are either unfunded or only available overseas, both carrying hefty price tags.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the quotes that came back from UCLA was $311,000, plus any associated travel costs and possible extensions,\u201d Beatson said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnother one we\u2019ve looked at is some unfunded drugs or medications that are $52,000 a month, I believe, which is just horrendous.\u201d<\/p>\n

In creating the Givealittle<\/a>, Waddington said she wanted more people to know about her partner\u2019s journey, as \u201canyone who knows Scotty knows he would never ask for this help himself\u201d.<\/p>\n

With donations continuing to snowball, and messages of support flooding in from around the world, Beatson said the pair have been \u201cabsolutely overwhelmed\u201d by the public\u2019s response.<\/p>\n

Beatson said his young family lived a simple and humble life. Having nearly lost his own father some years ago too, he\u2019s always been one to appreciate living in the moment, which has come to prove helpful as he faces his own health battle.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s essentially a ticking time bomb … no one can plan, no one knows what\u2019s going to change, if it\u2019s going to change,\u201d Beatson said.<\/p>\n

\u201cGiven my age, and with our wee boy, if I can only focus on one thing for the rest of my life, it\u2019s being here for him and for Mia.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sign up to The Daily H<\/a>, a free newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With Beatson now looking to specialist care and unfunded treatments, while facing a high-risk second surgery and the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":532647,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[16891,74,6030,68,1558,1596,2534,13381,26632,2046,189527,18692,796,299,42,11676,78,15258,2845,80652,13631,117,43,5976,213,6859,40,38,41,39,102,80],"class_list":["post-532646","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-able","tag-after","tag-again","tag-air","tag-been","tag-brain","tag-cancer","tag-captain","tag-captains","tag-career","tag-checkup","tag-cutting","tag-diagnosis","tag-dream","tag-headlines","tag-hell","tag-in","tag-injury","tag-leaving","tag-limbo","tag-never","tag-new","tag-news","tag-short","tag-sports","tag-told","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories","tag-with","tag-zealand"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/532646","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=532646"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/532646\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/532647"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=532646"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=532646"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=532646"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}