{"id":572007,"date":"2026-08-17T20:02:08","date_gmt":"2026-08-17T20:02:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/572007\/"},"modified":"2026-08-17T20:02:08","modified_gmt":"2026-08-17T20:02:08","slug":"whangarei-cancer-patients-heartfelt-final-message-to-his-son-shared","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/572007\/","title":{"rendered":"Whang\u0101rei cancer patient\u2019s heartfelt final message to his son shared"},"content":{"rendered":"

Shane\u2019s vlogs started as a \u201csurvival guide to hospital\u201d but ended up documenting his cancer journey<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Along the way, he shared words of wisdom for Blaze, including encouraging the teenager to talk things through with his family.<\/p>\n

Shane described difficult situations like a bird shut inside, saying talking about them opened up the doors and set the bird free.<\/p>\n

It is this sort of inspiration that Shane brought to his work as a teacher and principal, said Samara, who is also a marine educator.<\/p>\n

As principal of Portland School, Shane would do home visits if a child was absent<\/a> and focused on environmental passion projects<\/a>, growing the roll 200% in just two years.<\/p>\n

\"SaramaSarama (left) and Blaze Nicholas remember Shane as a dedicated educator, hunter-and-gatherer and humorous storyteller.<\/p>\n

He also advocated for fellow principals new to the role, saying burnout was a big issue<\/a>.<\/p>\n

When Shane started suffering fatigue and mental distress, it was linked to job burnout but hindsight showed these were the first symptoms of his brain tumour, Samara said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was unfair … He was a very accomplished principal<\/a> and made Portland a place where kids wanted to be,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Shane took a step back from being principal, taking up a role as teacher at Tikipunga High School.<\/p>\n

In the weeks before his diagnosis, he gave all his energy to teaching but was so fatigued he would come home and fall asleep, Samara said.<\/p>\n

\"AsAs principal of Portland School, Shane Nicholas helped increase the roll and spoke up for principals suffering burnout. Photo \/ NZME<\/p>\n

When Shane started showing physical symptoms down his left side, such as being unable to hold a cup of tea and dragging his left foot, a close friend encouraged them to go to hospital.<\/p>\n

Within hours, Shane was diagnosed with a stage 4 brain tumour, which was deep inside his brain.<\/p>\n

He had biopsy surgery at Auckland Hospital and later radiation therapy, but it quickly became clear there was very little oncologists could do<\/a>, Samara said.<\/p>\n

Shane took a positive attitude, promising to be a better husband and offering plenty of humour and entertainment \u2013 including playing loud music in the hospital, Samara said.<\/p>\n

In the hard times, the Nicholases held tight to those memories and advice, she said.<\/p>\n

\"ShaneShane Nicholas (right) shared life advice to his son Blaze (left) in his vlog from his hospital bed.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe said \u2018wrap your family and friends around you like a korowai\u2019 and we did, we called on our family and friends. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe saw so much aroha, from our friends especially, who would come out and help,\u201d Samara said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was very quick-witted and funny. Towards the end, some of his hallucinations were hilarious,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Samara said she continues to seek a rosy outlook when hitting life\u2019s hurdles. <\/p>\n

\u201cNow, whatever bad things happen to me, I just try and have a more positive outlook on it \u2013 that\u2019s because of Shane.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ShaneShane Nicholas (from left) is remembered by Blaze and Samara for his quick wit and hard-case attitude in hospital.<\/p>\n

Samara and Blaze decided to make Shane\u2019s story public at this time, to help promote the Cancer Society\u2019s main fundraiser<\/a>, Daffodil Day, on August 28.<\/p>\n

While Shane was in Auckland Hospital, Samara and Blaze were able to stay at the Cancer Society\u2019s Domain Lodge, the sort of thing funded through donations<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Samara said Blaze also took part in the last two Relay for Life events<\/a> in Whang\u0101rei for the Cancer Society.<\/p>\n

Samara was also thankful to North Haven Hospice for the respite care it offered during Shane\u2019s last months.<\/p>\n

Both organisations also offered counselling which was very helpful, she said.<\/p>\n

Samara believed looking at Shane\u2019s vlogs helped both her and Blaze process their grief.<\/p>\n

\u201cMentally, it\u2019s helped me and my son deal with it and be more settled in our grief.<\/p>\n

\u201cI see a lot of people really, really struggling with their grief and, I know everyone\u2019s different, but I think these vlogs really helped us with our grief.\u201d<\/p>\n

Blaze is continuing his studies at Kamo High School. Like his father, he enjoys fishing and spearfishing, plus is into horse riding.<\/p>\n

Samara said she is finding her mauri again<\/a> with her role as co-director of Mountains to Sea Conservation Trust, which runs Experiencing Marine Reserves for students<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Denise Piper is a news reporter<\/a> for the Northern Advocate, focusing on health and business. She has more than 20 years in journalism and is passionate about covering stories that make a difference.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Shane\u2019s vlogs started as a \u201csurvival guide to hospital\u201d but ended up documenting his cancer journey. Along the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":572008,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[2534,156,26095,2109,5904,1445,60083,293,28162,16099,194947,13840,6096,111,139,69,6293,5970,3168,22639,140539,2846,5654,61,1869,102,1959,32531],"class_list":["post-572007","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-cancer","tag-entertainment","tag-everyone","tag-family","tag-final","tag-friends","tag-heartfelt","tag-his","tag-hold","tag-kind","tag-korowai","tag-like","tag-message","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-patients","tag-really","tag-shared","tag-son","tag-surround","tag-them","tag-tight","tag-to","tag-whangrei","tag-with","tag-your","tag-yourself"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/572007","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=572007"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/572007\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/572008"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=572007"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=572007"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=572007"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}