The Breast Cancer Foundation hopes to give more Kiwis in rural and isolated areas access to support, and it's doing so with a new campervan that's pretty hard to miss.
The hot-pink, floral campervan replaces the foundation's old "Pinkie" caravan, which needed volunteers to tow it. The organisation's new vehicle can be driven by nurses, which means it can access more parts of the country.
Registered nurse Alison Smith told 1News that the campervan would help get the foundation's message out there — even if driving the large vehicle was a bit daunting.
"It's so important because a lot of the ladies, and men, in rural areas don't have some of the services. So we're able to encourage them to know their normal and go and see their GP".
The new campervan has a small kitchen to make tea and coffee, private areas for chats, and the ability to link up to services on the computer.
"We talk to women about the importance of being breast aware, and what else to look out for because breast cancer's not just about a lump," Smith said.
"There are all sorts of symptoms that we need to be looking for."
She advised people to get advice early if they noticed any changes in their breasts. More than 600 people die from breast cancer in New Zealand every year.
In Westport, Nicky Meadowcroft told 1News about how early detection saved her life, but that getting diagnosed was difficult because of the long distance to a clinic.
"I just think I've been so, so, so lucky that I found it early, and I didn't muck around".
She noticed a lump on her breast late last year and immediately got it checked out.
"The mammogram, they were able to tell straight away that something wasn't right. And it turned out that the lump I felt was actually just a cyst. But lurking beneath, underneath there were actually a couple of suspicious things going on".
She was diagnosed early this year, and had a double mastectomy, but because it was caught early hasn't required any further treatment.
"It isn't a death sentence, when you find it early," the Westport resident said.
"When you find it early your chances are so good".
Meadowcroft said the initial diagnosis stage was particularly challenging as she had to drive to Christchurch — about four hours away — seven times in the first few months.
"Just going for a half an hour appointment — that would be a two-day exercise.
"And sometimes when you got there they'd say: 'Oh we need you to do something else tomorrow.'"
She encouraged others to go and say hi to the campervan, if it dropped by in their neck of the woods: "If nothing else it will be a fun day out".
The campervan is currently in Nelson and will be visiting small towns around the South Island for the rest of the year.
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