Help Skip fight the battle of his life, Cancer

Hi, my name is Woggy, aka Jo, Club President, co-Founder, and acting Head Coach for Te Waka Dragons, a competitive local dragon boat club based in Brisbane Qld. Recently, co-Founder and Head Coach, Anthony Skipper, better known as "Skip", was admitted to hospital and has just been diagnosed with "Stomach Cancer". Further tests were done, and now we've been told it's spread to various organs (liver, lungs & pancreas) and is allegedly terminal.

We are all extraordinarily heartbroken and feel deeply for his wife Est, mum Alice in NZ (who can't travel to see her son due to her age) and surviving siblings who are all in NZ.

Skip and his wife Est have been an integral part of my life for nearly 25+ years, basically like family to me. They have been huge contributors to the dragon boat community locally in Qld, nationwide and even internationally. Skip's patience, calmness, skills, novels (he loves to write short stories lol), persistence and determination have transformed our club members into elite paddlers who have represented our club at numerous State and National Titles as well as 3 World Championship campaigns, succeeding as "World Champions". They have been extremely fortunate to travel the world and make new friends, all for the love of our sport. Our dragon boat community is close-knit worldwide and has always banded together when support is needed.

Skip has been the primary breadwinner for his family, working and looking after his wife Est, who has medical issues of her own. Unfortunately, from here, he'll be hospitalised for quite some time and the costs involved in parking and travelling to and from the hospital on a daily basis and the stacking medical expenses yet to come will reach its toll.

No financial income will be coming in and we all know, bills don't stop because of medical emergencies, so something needs to be done. We do not yet know the extent of his treatment plan for the months ahead. However, he's optimistic and knows he will be fighting for his life and is prepared to do whatever is needed to continue seeing a daily sunrise.

We want to rally around Skip & Est and shower them with love, support and encouragement. Any amount you're able to contribute will be much appreciated. This way he can focus on his treatments without worrying about Est and their living expenses.

If positivity is what it takes to beat cancer, then anyone who knows Skip knows this is a fight he can win. Your support means so much!

Regards

Woggy