About 250 people turned out to a black tie fundraising gala — themed ‘Shine Bright Like a Diamond’ — to help her family fund potentially life-saving treatment the 12-year-old’s about to undergo to treat her terminal osteosarcoma.
Meila’s mum, Kristin, tells Mountain Scene she’s still getting to grips with the phenomenal amount of support the family’s received — both on Saturday night, and since Meila was diagnosed last June.
"I have no words.
"It’s just insane how kind people have been to us, and just how lovely.
"We used to live in Wellington ... don’t get me wrong, we had a wonderful group of friends and support in Wellington ... but I don’t know if we would have got the same support like we’ve had in Queenstown.
"I hope one day I can be the person organising an event for another family that needs this — I just want to make sure I pay it forward."
That wouldn’t have been possible, she says, were it not for the generosity of the community, many of whom she didn’t know, who donated almost everything.
She’s particularly grateful to Double Thyme Catering; Royalburn Station; Brett Hamilton; Prestige Marquees and Events; Vingard owner Mike Almquist and his wife; Jason Medina; Rosie van Lingen; a host of local wineries and breweries, including Akarua and Altitude; Bloss Flowers; the ‘ball committee’ — Adrienne Muir, Candice Buchanan, Claire Powell and Julie Tucker; auctioneer Ricky Proctor; and MC David Downs, himself a terminal cancer survivor, who’s gone through the treatment Meila will have sometime next month at the University of North Carolina.
Kristin says they’re waiting on confirmation of when she’ll head back to the United States for the T-cell treatment, and are pushing for her to have the highest dose possible.
She explains the trial has six dosage levels — six being the highest.
Meila will either receive the fourth dosage, about 3000ml per kilo, or the fifth, which is 5000ml/kilo.
"If we’re going to do this, we really want to make sure we’re giving it our all."
Kristin’s also successfully lobbied to get the protocol changed to enable Meila to continue to take her oral chemotherapy right up till she starts the treatment.
The doctors initially requested a three-week "wash-out", meaning Meila would have to stop taking all medication, which Kristin says "is far too dangerous".
The last time that happened to Meila, when she was waiting for another treatment which didn’t proceed, her lung collapsed "and her disease got really bad".
"I basically said to the oncologist in the States we won’t be participating if that’s the case — it’s just not worth it."
She also notes when the trial started, about five years ago, patients were being administered "standard chemo", which is at least 40 years old and took about three weeks to get out of the system.
Oral chemotherapy, like Meila’s on, only takes a few days to exit her system, Kristin says.
"They’ve basically said carry on with the chemo, and we’re working on getting this amendment through ... it just means it’s safer.
"It kind of blows your mind, actually ... they’re actually changing the protocol because of that point."
