Show of Support October 17, 2011

(Please find below a message from the team at The Down Low Concept, who’ve put together a show to raise money for Dave and Nicky to help with her road to recovery. Please head along or pass the word (via a link to this post) around to folk you reckon would be keen to get along. – thanks again for all your comments and love, prayers, chanting and support! – With love, The Friends of Dave, Nicky and Alfie)

Hello,

On October 18th we are helping stage a ‘Show of Support’ raising funds for Dave, Nicky and Alfie Cameron.

Dave Cameron, a Director of Photography (who’s worked on shows; Go Girls,A Night at the Classic, Nothing Trivial, Hounds etc…), recently lost his child and very nearly his wife in tragic circumstances.  When his wife Nicky suddenly had a major heart attack and went into a coma Dave had to step down from work to be by her side. Since then Nicky has made a miraculous recovery defying the logic and experience of every doctor that treated her and is now home. The road to a full recovery is still a long one and to read the full ordeal of what the family have been through please visit: Friendsofdaveynickyandalfie

To celebrate this amazing story we’ve rallied together some of our friends to put on a stand up comedy show.  Hosted by Jon Bridges, ‘Show of Support’ will feature 8 comedians including Simon McKinney, Urzila Carlson, Cori Gonzalez Macuer, Justine Smith, Jamie Bowen, Grant Lobban, BenHurley and the return of Josh Thomson. This will be a special night not to be forgotten with 100% of ticket sales and 100% of money raised from the auctiongoing to the Cameron family.

The auction is a great chance to pick up something great for a bargain price knowing full well the funds raised are going to a good cause to very good people.

Some auction items include:

Skycity Grand Extravagance Package including a night’s accommodation, 7-course degustation dinner for two at Dine by Peter Gordon, Buffet-Breakfast, late checkout and valet parking courtesy Sky City

2 x tickets to the world premiere of Sione’s Wedding 2

2 x tickets to Fly My Pretties 4 on Thursday Nov 10th at the Mercury Theatre,courtesy LOOP Recordings AOT(EAR)OA

6 course degustation dinner for two with matching wines at Molten Restaurant,courtesy Molten Restaurant

Stolen Rum Package courtesy of Stolen Rum

Plus a few surprises on the night! (Check the Facebook page for more updates on auction items)

Tickets are $40 each. To reserve a place please RSVP on the Facebook page below,and write on the wall how many tickets you would like.  You will need to bring cash on the night to pay for tickets so as to keep 100% of the money going to the Cameron family.

Please spread this message to the friends and workmates of Dave Cameron.

Check it out on Facebook here:

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=173128352770156

 

Thanks

!

Three words…. “Nicky is home!” October 4, 2011

That’s right, less than one month since the madness began, Nicky has “woken up” and defied every medical assumption made about her, giving her doctors the satisfying task of discharging her from hospital so she can continue her healing at home.

So how is she doing now? Nicky’s heart continues to strengthen every day. She has to take a colourful cocktail of pills to keep this progress going, and while her recovery will take time, I have no doubt that it will be a complete recovery. A district nurse visits Nicky everyday at home to change the dressings on her caesar wound and both her feet. Nicky’s tummy is healing up beautifully, and her feet, while still giving her quite a lot of pain, are also steadily improving. Exercise is a key part of maintaining this forward momentum so don’t be surprised if you catch a glimpse of her out for a stroll around the Peninsula!

As I said last time, Nicky’s mind is as sharp as ever. Every trace of the fog that enveloped her has lifted and even her short-term memories are drifting back in to focus. This of course, has cleared a path for her grief to slip in, but I can promise you the love being shown by you all has softened the rough edges of those jagged emotions. We will all get through this with time and with each other.

So all that is left to say is again – “Thank you”. Every one of you has made a huge difference through this difficult time, and Nicky, Alfie and I will be eternally grateful for that. The only thing I ask, is that despite the sadness we have all faced, that we move ahead with joy. We need to live better, love more and continue to show all those we care about how much they mean to us, because if we do that, miracles will happen.

All my love Dave xxx

Nicky’s road to recovery, an update from Davey… September 21, 2011

Hey everyone,

 

I’m sorry it has taken me this long, but I thought it time to update you all on Nicky’s progress.

 

While we all celebrated Nicky’s emergence from the coma, there have still been many hurdles in front of her. The concerns about brain damage, the weakness of her heart, the shut down of her major organs, and the lack of circulation to her hands and feet. I am so happy to say that since my last message, most of those hurdles have been overcome.

Firstly, brain damage – From my perspective (and I think I know her pretty well), Nicky is exactly the same person we all know and love. To her, this whole ordeal was little more than a dream which is why when she finally woke up she insisted that she was fine and asked if we could go home. She is so herself that it sometimes makes this situation even more surreal as it feels like we almost imagined the whole thing. Nevertheless, I am simply grateful that I’ve got my Nicky back.

Nicky’s heart – While this has improved steadily over the last few weeks, it is still in the early days of its recovery. The heart is a slow muscle to heal and as such it will take time and medication to get Nicky’s heart back in shape. She’s such a fighter though, and I really believe she will get back to good health.

The hot topic of the last few days has been her kidneys. Throughout her recovery, Nicky has been on dialysis due to the fact her kidneys had completely shut down. There were real concerns that she may have to rely on this treatment for the rest of her life. However, a couple of days ago, her kidneys came back on-line and this morning she was told they were strong enough that her days on dialysis were over.

Finally, Nicky’s circulation – During her coma Nicky’s circulation was very poor. Basically, the heart decides not to pump blood to the extremities so as to conserve energy. As a result the hands and feet suffer. All her fingers and toes turned black and this even started to creep into her hands and feet. Thankfully, as Nicky began recovering her circulation kicked in and now both Nicky’s hands and all her fingers are back to normal. The feet have also improved, the left foot now has only the smallest amount of black on the tip of one of her toes. The right foot however, is still swollen and the underside of all of the toes are black and hard. There are still some complications with the circulation in the right leg which looks like the cause of this, and as a result the doctors are fairly certain Nicky will lose the tips of some of her toes. While I know this is not the best news, we have to remember that in the grand scheme of things this is the smallest of casualties compared to how catastrophic the outcome could have been, and I know my beautiful wife will wear her battle scars with pride.

 

That’s it for the moment. I will do my best to let you know more as it happens, and let me take this opportunity to thank each of you again for your ongoing love and support – we couldn’t have made it through without it.

 

Ps. Nicky loooves having visitors, so if any of you feel the need she is at Auckland Hospital (Grafton), Floor 3, Ward 34, Room 11. Visiting hours are 11am – 1pm and 3pm – 8pm

 

Love you all,

 

Dx

A message from Dave… September 16, 2011

(Dave sent this email out today and asked me to post it up on here. – Friends of DaveNickyandalfie)

To all our wonderful family and friends,

On behalf of Nicky, Alfie, and myself, I would like to thank each and every one of you for your overwhelming love and support over the last few weeks. There is no doubt in my mind that between all the beautiful messages, the prayers, the chanting, and the positive vibes being channelled Nicky’s way, that you are all personally responsible the miraculous recovery she has made. Just so you understand what I mean by this – despite the fact they were finally able to resuscitate Nicky after a staggering 75 minutes, the doctors were convinced her heart would not survive. On top of that, we were told that if by some miracle Nicky’s heart did pull through, she would no doubt suffer such massive brain damage that her quality of life would be non-existent. Thank God they were wrong on both counts. On the morning of my son’s funeral Nicky woke up for the first time, and two days later she was talking and breathing on her own. Every doctor and nurse I have spoken with has seen nothing like this in their time on the job. Many have also acknowledged, that while they have provided the best care available to Nicky, her miraculous recovery is just that -”miraculous”. A friend of mine put it very simply the other day “Faith + Hope = Miracle” and that’s what all of you have been a part of. You are all personally responsible for bringing Nicky back to me and for that I will be eternally grateful.

Now that it seems the worst is over, many of you have been asking for updates of Nicky’s progress. Unbeknownst to me, a couple of my friends recently created a website to provide support for Nicky, Alfie and myself. This seems like a good focal point for me to let everyone know how she’s doing and also to let you know which part of Auckland hospital she is in. So, I will do my best over the coming weeks to keep you all in the loop via the website: http://friendsofdavenickyandalfie.wordpress.com/

Again, I can’t thank you enough for all the cards, texts, messages, emails, web posts, food parcels, donations, thoughts and prayers we’ve received over the last couple of weeks. Never has a family felt so loved.

Thank you all.

Aroha Dave xxx

Nicky update (they make ‘em tough in Morrinsville). September 12, 2011

As you know Nicky suffered a major heart attack on the 1st Sept.  The good thing was (grab the good things out of the bad), Dave had just taken her to Waikato A&E. Nicky was treated immediately in the best environment possible. She received professional CPR for an astounding 75 minutes before  her heart started again, but nevertheless, she was left in a coma in critical condition. Sadly, Dave and Nicky also lost their second little boy Billy during the emergency.

On Saturday 3rd Sept we were told Nicky wouldn’t survive the night… But, they underestimated just how strong this beautiful  girl from Morrinsville could be and since then Nicky has emerged from her coma and is getting stronger and stronger.

Her progress is miraculous, but she is still in critical care and  has a lot of healing and rehabilitation to do. She will most likely  be in hospital for a while and during this time Dave will be unable to work as he needs to look after his family.

Alot of you have asked ‘what can I do to help?’ .

Offering any financial donation will directly help Dave and Alfie look after Nicky and get her home as soon as possible, and anything you can manage will be greatly appreciated!

The bank account details are now up and running. This is a secure account that is only for Dave, Nicky and Alfie to use.  You can contribute to it via internet banking.

DNA CAMERON SUPPORT

Account number:

38-9012-0034348-00

Huge thanks for all the support, kind wishes and general warm fuzzies!

Love,

the many friends of Nicky, Dave and Alfie