The Star: January 17, 2019

12
Latest Christchurch news at www.star.kiwi
Thursday January 17 2019
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Fire rages, homes at risk
Bid to beat
long grass
• By Julia Evans
THE CITY’S wet, warm summer
weather is providing the perfect
growing conditions for grass.
And with more than 9000ha
of lawns to mow, the city council
has had to bump up its parks
maintenance schedule to keep up
with demand.
City council manager community
parks Al Hardy said the city
council has received 139 inquiries
relating to grass growth and
maintenance since December 1.
“The council parks staff recognise
citizen concern over excessive
growth relating to potential fire
risks is high. To address this, we
have increased the programmed
mowing frequencies,” he said.
“Council rangers are currently
monitoring and inspecting sites
that could potentially pose a fire
risk.”
He said it was high soil moisture
levels due to the record rain
levels and warm temperature,
which have lead to the “excessive”
grass growth.
City councillor Yani Johanson
said basic maintenance was important,
especially to reduce fire
risks.
“We shouldn’t be allowing these
places to get overgrown,” he said.
From cancer to the Coast to Coast
• By Sophie Cornish
AS A CHILD Jake Bailey was not
the sporting type.
But at 21-years-old, he is taking
on the Coast to Coast next
month.
The cancer survivor made
international headlines in 2015
with his gripping speech about
his shock diagnosis as head boy
of Christchurch Boys’ High
School.
Mr Bailey received a two-week
prognosis after finding out he
had Burkitt’s Non-Hodgkins
Lymphoma, the fastest growing
cancer known to man.
During the Coast to Coast
will tackle the 160km cycle over
two days, in a team with two old
school friends.
Since beating his cancer and
announcing he was in remission
in January 2016, Mr Bailey has
been working full-time as a
public speaker. He has shared
his story and what it taught him
across almost 50 cities around the
world.
Now living on the Gold Coast,
Mr Bailey is also the author What
Cancer Taught Me and features in
the documentary The Common
Touch, which is about his cancer
journey.
He will return to Christchurch
next month to compete in the
event he calls “iconic” to Canterbury.
As a young boy, Mr Bailey
would go with his father to watch
the end of the Coast to Coast.
But he said he “never dreamed
of taking part.”
Mr Bailey’s close call with
death has serve as his motivation
for getting into endurance sport.
“In both a practical sense,
because it minimises my risk of
relapse and makes sure my body
is fit and in an emotional, mental
and personal sense.”
He said he’s developed an
“obsession” in learning what his
body is capable of.
“Going through cancer
treatment and seeing what my
body could withstand, I have
grown a fascination with what
the body can do and putting
mind over matter and having
INSPIRATIONAL:
Jake Bailey will
be competing
in the Coast
to Coast after
beating cancer.
PHOTO: GEOFF
SLOAN
mental strength. That’s why
endurance sport appeals to me,
it’s a battle between your head
and your body to push yourself.”
Over the last four months,
Mr Bailey has completed
triathlon events, something
which came as a shock to him
as he could not swim more than
25m a year ago.
“I did fairly poorly,” he said.
“But I really enjoyed them.”