The plight of a 12-year-old boy has seen him call his town of Methven the "eighth Wonder of the World" after the community gathered around him in a support drive to raise funds to help him get a new heart.
As a toddler, David Dirks was found to have Shone's syndrome, a rare form of congenital heart disease which affects only about 50 people around the world.
Methven local and long-time Kiwi musician and comedian, Dame Lynda Topp participated in a dance that involved many in the community as part of a campaign to raise funds for David’s heart operation, which could be any day.
“He is a champ and the community realises he is a champ,” she says.
“We're not the greatest of dancers but you know - everybody poured their hearts and soul into that dance and it looked pretty good in the end.”
That dance, refers to a bunch of locals uniting to do the Jerusalema dance challenge . Jerusalema - a song by South African DJ and record producer Master KG has sparked dance challenges around the world, this one, meaning a lot to his family.
“His heart runs a marathon each day,” says Bex Dirks, David’s mum.
“He does not physically have the energy to grow and gain weight because he puts all his energy into his heart working and keeping him alive.
“It's a fairly bittersweet thing for us - we know that somebody's got to lose a loved one for us to keep our loved one. We try not to dwell on that but we do because, you know, it's the ultimate gift, it is,” Bex Dirks says.
“It’s one of the best communities in the world,” David says.
“It really is, the eighth Wonder of the World,” he says.
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