For many children, the sight of a plane wreck and a fire truck on scene may be a very scary sight. However, for some lucky children in Auckland today, it was all part and parcel in a life-changing initiative.
Says Noel Knight of Corporate Taxis about the event which “has been going for 3 years now, this is the third event, first to Auckland Zoo, and then the last two years at Auckland Airport.”
Children from all around the country that are suffering from debilitating diseases were invited to take part in this initiative, the brainchild of twenty-five Corporate Cabs taxi driver, as their way of giving back to the community.
Adds Noel about the demonstration put on by fire-fighters from around the Auckland isthmus that the “demonstration that they did, they had kids in the fire trucks with the helmets on using the water cannons, it's just a great event for the kids, they do things that they never get the opportunity to do any other time.”
13 year old Caesar Nepia of Tainui suffers from a rare form of arthritis, that has only struck very few worldwide, and today he was given the chance to reap the rewards from today’s events.
Says parents Te Aroha Rangi and Harry Nepia, of Tainui, “it took six months for diagnosis, which he ended up having a rare arthritis, at that time there were only two kids in Germany that had it besides Caesar. At that time Caesar was the only one in the southern hemisphere with that condition so it was quite hard.”
And despite Harry and Te Aroha having so much on their mind, they always have positive attitude.