Meeting William Pike

This week I had the privilege of meeting Mr William Pike. In 2007 William Pike had walked to the crater lake at the top of Mt Ruapehu and was spending a night in the Dome Shelter. During that night, Mt Ruapehu erupted with rocks and water being blown out of the crater. As William said, “what goes up must come down”, and within seconds rocks were smashing their way into the Dome Shelter. William had one leg crushed and had to have it amputated. He spent nine months in hospital and then made the conscious decision that this set back would not stop him from achieving his dreams. He learnt to walk with an artificial leg, and has continued with his adventures. He has even gone on to climb mountains in Antarctica. In 2010 he set up the William Pike Challenge Programme, which is now in 99 schools. This year is our first year that Wesley Intermediate School have been part of the Programme, with seven students opting in. Their challenge is to complete different outdoor activities, or try new things, and to do volunteer their time to work in the community. As I listened to William speak I was reminded of the two years I spent fighting cancer, (which apart from God’s grace I would not have survived). After this personal battle I was told, I would not be able to do certain things. Like William, I enjoy the outdoors and the mountains in New Zealand and challenged myself to get fit and walk the Routeburn and Kepler Tracks in the South Island, which I have managed to do in recent years.