Volunteering is Michael's driving force
We love what we do at Volunteering Auckland – and meeting volunteers from every part of Auckland, who do so much to make our communities amazing!
Michael Sharp is one of those inspiring volunteers.
He’s been a volunteer driver for the Cancer Society for 16 years – making him one of their longest-serving drivers, taking patients to their treatments. It’s an invaluable service to people going through cancer treatment, particularly if they don’t have family close by to support them.
‘It costs nothing to be a volunteer, and you get so much out of it,’ says Michael. You get so much more out of it than you put in. And everyone is capable of volunteering in some way.
‘I’ve had people come up to me years after they’ve finished their treatments to thank me. You can’t put a price on that.’
In a twist of fate, Michael has just undergone 4 months of treatment for a cancerous tumour in his lung – and became a client of the volunteer driver service himself.
He considers himself extremely lucky that his cancer was caught early, through a remarkable chain of events. He’d been visiting his wife in Middlemore Hospital, after she’d badly broken her leg.
Michael had caught the train to Middlemore, and after walking to his wife’s ward he became so unwell that he was admitted to the cardiac unit. After several days of tests, doctors gave his heart the all-clear – but delivered the news that his PET scan had revealed a tumour in his left lung.
‘I’ve completed my radiotherapy now, and am about to have my final scan.’
He jokes that he was disappointed with his first tattoo – a small dot done so that radiotherapy can be precisely targeted.
‘I said to the nurse: “Can’t I have something like a littler flower?”,’ he says, with a twinkle.
With his own treatment now completed, Michael’s back in the driving seat helping others to get to their own treatments – because he loves what he does.
Story & photo – Ruth Jackson
If you’re interested in volunteering in your community in any way, check out the huge range of roles available at the Volunteering Auckland website at www.volunteeringauckland.org.nz/individuals
There’s something to suit every person’s lives, skills, and interests.
