Episode 11 - Kerrie Fairhall, Westport
Episode 11 - Kerrie Fairhall,
Westport
Kerrie Fairhall is raising two teenage daughters on her own, that
alone is worthy of recognition but its Kerrie's determination and
strength to never give up that we should celebrate.
Kerrie suffered a brain haemorrhage caused by a burst aneurism -
against all odds she survived - once she recovered she
was back and doing everything all over again, she picked up where
she left off and was even stronger. She has always been a
fighter, looking after the community where she was born and bred -
Westport.
She's an active member of BOLT - the Buller Outdoor Learning
Trust which challenges Westport's youth to do things that they
never thought would be possible.
Kerrie volunteers at the Buller Marathon, she donates her time to a
Victim Support group, then there's the numerous sports teams she
ether coaches, manages or participates in. She can be on call 24
hours a day for the Local Search and Rescue; she drives for the
local hospital, raises money for Red Cross and ahs been involved in
Meals on Wheels for 20 years. If there is a sausage sizzle or a
raffle ticket to be sold Kerrie will be there - anything for the
community she loves.
"Kerrie is our legend supporter who will do anything we ask of her, whenever we ask her. She's training to be a teacher, helps out at a few of the local schools, looks after senior citizens, manages a B & B and tries to keep her two daughters under control. Where she finds the time to help us we don't know, but we are sure are glad she does!"
The Mucking In experience in Kerrie's own words
Wow what excitement we could hardly sleep for days. The
girls, my parents and friends were as excited as me; they were all
counting down the sleeps and coming up with all sorts of
ideas.
Friday was amazing as everyone began to arrive. I felt like I was
going to be missing out on a great weekend with a whole lot of
friends and fun.
When it was time to go we were so excited, the car arrived, our
gear loaded and away we went on our mystery weekend. We headed
north of Westport to the fantastic Rough and Tumble Lodge tucked
away in the remote Mohiknui valley. What a spot Mucking in...A
dream come true.
Owners Sue and Weasel welcomed us and we got the grand tour. What a
fantastic resort tucked away in native West Coast Beech on the
banks of the Mohiknui River and all hand build by Sue and Weasel.
That night Sue cooked a wonderful dinner. We ate, talked and
relaxed by a roaring fire and in the lovely outdoor bath. The whole
weekend we were looked after like queens, fed and watered on
demand. Thank you Sue and Weasel you are legends!
In the morning Dan arrived, we showed him around and had fun
swimming/kayaking in the river, then a quiet walk on the beach. To
top that Janeese arrived and we all had a relaxing massage and
facials.
What a top weekend, a prefect spot to wind down or get out there
and enjoy the fantastic West Coast bush, rivers and
mountains.
I enjoyed meeting Jim, Tony and the team. Everyone to do with
'Mucking In' were wonderful to us, and really do care about the
people and the communities that they get to spend a short time
in.
Going home I was so nervous by the time we got to the meeting place
the more nervous I got. Then it was time to drive down the street I
joked about turning off and heading to the beach. I was soooo
nervous. When we got home I was completely blown away by all the
people, there were so many people to welcome us home, some I didn't
even know.
A couple of times during the weekend I felt really emotional
thinking about everything that was being done for us, all the kind
words and best wishes from people. I was sure I would be a
blubbering mess the following day; I'm so surprised that I didn't
cry!
I had no idea about what would be done to the garden and yard. Wow
what an amazing transformation, we now have a beautiful garden and
yard. The BBQ and spa are more than we dreamed. There is not one
single thing I would change. It is just perfect!
Thank you, thank you, thank you Westport, Mucking In and everyone
who were involved in the transformation of my garden.
Thank you all for your time and effort, you have touched a special
place in my heart and have done more for us than I could ever
express.
A few words from Kerrie's nominator - Rose Adams
Being a Mucking In nominator was a lot of fun. While Lynn and I
knew Kerrie was involved in a bit of stuff we decided to take it
upon ourselves to look into her past and then we were amazed at
this woman who has been volunteering pretty much her whole life! We
thought she was definitely a good candidate for Mucking In.
While she is not generally a leader of any particular group or cause, you will just about always find her in the background with her sleeves rolled up doing the work. We thought that was worth celebrating. Lynn and I had a great time finding out all about Kerrie and then when we found out she had been selected we were stoked! Then, the fun began.
Trying to figure out a way of surprising her and keeping it a
secret was going to be a real mission. This is a woman who will
change her plans at the last minute to help out somewhere or other
if she's needed - and this she did. The place she decided to help
out at was the very place we were planning to surprise her -
typical Kerrie!
Luckily we had a wee bit of time up our sleeves so we managed to
hatch another plan to get her out of the school building, although
even as the tv cameras were turning up she still hadn't actually
left as she had got talking to people. Jeepers, we were lucky she
never suspected a thing and that was probably the really fun part
for us. She truly was surprised. Jim asked her to stand up to meet
Tony and the crew and she couldn't because her legs were shaking so
much! It was great.
The weekend itself was loads of fun too. While there was a bit of organising getting everyone sorted who wanted to be there, with email and texting this isn't too hard and people are really keen to help. Everyone had a great time, even in the rain - I guess coasters know how to enjoy themselves in the rain - and it was really neat seeing Kerrie's garden take shape. It was a shame the lawn didn't get put down but it didn't really matter in the end, the weekend was so much fun and Kerrie was really blown away regardless.
Since then Kerrie has just been getting on with her usual thing.
Fundraising for boats for rowing, sewing costumes for the
highschool stage challenge, organising the Cape Fear race, she just
carries on.
She's a fantastic woman and it's been really neat for Lynn and I as
her friends to have been able to kick start the Mucking In process
for her. To us, she is still, and always will be, the person who
you can rely on to help with, organise, find, sort, fix, manage,
create just about anything you need. She's a legend.
Thanks Mucking In for creating such a neat garden for her. She loves it and whenever we are calling in or just driving past we smile because it looks great and she so deserved it.
Cheers,
Rose Adams
If you would like to find out more about some of the
organisations that Kerrie is associated with, please see the
following links:
Buller Outdoor Learning Trust (BOLT)
www.bolt.org.nz
55 Peel St, Westport
03 789 7067
admin@bolt.org.nz
Buller Marathon
www.bullermarathon.org.nz
P.O. BOX 158
Westport
New Zealand
0064 3 7898010
info@bullermarathon.org.nz
Victim Support (Granity, Karamea, Westport)
c/- Police Stataion
PO Box 34
Westport
Ph: 03 788 8310
Pager 086 826 181 24 hour
buller@victimsupport.org.nz
Land Search & Rescue
www.landsar.org.nz
Red Cross
www.redcross.org.nz
New Zealand Red Cross - Southern Region
31 York Place
PO Box 5210
Dunedin 9031
New Zealand
Phone: +64 (03) 477 1527
Fax: +64 (03) 477 1529
Email:
southern@redcross.org.nz
