New apartments will be a ‘saviour’ for cancer patients and families

Tuesday, 2 January 2024

In their darkest days, out-of-city cancer patients and their families look to Christchurch’s Rānui House for accommodation - but hundreds miss out. That’s all about to change.

The Bone Marrow Cancer Trust (BMCT) established Rānui House in 1993 to offer a home-away-from-home for those needing any kind of cancer treatment in Christchurch.

Over the years, more rooms were added as demand increased, but some people were still turned away. This year was one of the house’s busiest - hosting over 1200 patients and their families - but over 500 families missed out.

When accommodation is scarce, the trust prioritises those with the greatest need and works closely with other charities like the Canterbury Cancer Centre and Ronald McDonald House for referrals.

However, the trust hopes to never again turn a family away after spending $18.3 million adding 43 more apartments to Rānui Apartments for families in need. Construction is expected to finish around July this year.

Invercargill resident Anne-Maree Thomas said the facilities were a “godsend” after she stayed in Rānui House for nearly a year while her son was treated for cancer.

In August 2022, after doctors initially brushed it off, Thomas was told Jesse Sanford had ewing sarcoma, a rare form of cancer, and they needed to get to Christchurch within 24 hours.

What was supposed to be a seven-day visit turned into a 313-day stay at Rānui House while Jesse underwent a series of treatments.

“It was the most horrific frickin’ time I’ve ever experienced, but it was Rānui House that saved the day,” Thomas said.

As a self-employed business owner, she did not know how she would have survived the course of her son’s treatment without the trust.

“The hospital was amazing, the staff were amazing, but Rānui House was the absolute saviour. It’s not just accommodation, it’s the whole package.”

Thomas praised not only the “beautiful” rooms she likened to Queenstown’s best apartments, but also the professionalism of the 10 staff and close proximity to the hospital. Several times she had to rush her son across the road in the middle of the night when his condition deteriorated.

The social aspect of Rānui House was also critical, she said, with weekly afternoon teas and occasional dinners from volunteers the only chance to “sit down in a normal environment and talk to people”.

On the occasions Jesse was well enough, he was able to socialise with others going through similar challenges, an opportunity he may have never have had outside Rānui House.

“It secures your mental health … if you didn’t have that a lot of people would lose it completely,” Thomas said.

Jesse’s treatment was successful and the pair returned to Invercargill in June, but the experience left Thomas wondering what they would have done without the BMCT.

BMCT chief executive officer Mandy Kennedy said it would be “incredible” to finally open the new apartments next year.

Land was acquired in 2016, so the facility had been a long time coming, she said.

“I’m absolutely thrilled, it’s a testament to our bold trustees and their great vision to see and to enable us to realise the apartments.

“Quite simply, it means that we won’t be in a position of having to turn families away.”

The 43 two-bedroom apartments will each include a kitchen, a laundry and a balcony, and guests will have access to a communal kitchen, lounge and dining area.

The New Zealand Community Trust recently donated $75,000 towards building costs.