Rachel's family heartbreak 'EVERYTHING CHANGED IN AN INSTANT'

The health journalist was blindsided by her mother’s devastating diagnosis

- Catherine Milford

Last November 16, Rachel Smalley was on top of the world. The former broadcaster had just taken a call from TVNZ Sunday journalist Miriama Kamo to tell her she’d been nominated for the Kiwibank New Zealander of the Year 2024 awards, and she couldn’t wait to tell her mum Shirley Mackie.

“I was so excited – it was a huge surprise,” says Rachel, 52, who was nominated for her work with The Medicine Gap, an initiative advocating for better access to modern medicine. “Miri told me I had to keep the news quiet, but I’d been given the okay to tell Mum. I celebrated for about 90 seconds, got quite emotional about it – and then I called Mum with the news.

“But her voice just broke. I thought maybe she was getting emotional about my news, but she told me she had been diagnosed with breast cancer that very morning. In an instant, everything changed.”

Two weeks earlier, Shirley, 76, had booked a private mammogram, after a previous conversation with Rachel about getting one.

“I thought once you reached 70, you didn’t need mammograms any more,” admits Shirley, who is based in Christchurch. In New Zealand, mammograms are free every two years through BreastScreen Aotearoa for women aged 45 to 69. “If someone had asked me when my last one was, I’d have said probably a couple of years ago. I was so surprised when they told me I hadn’t had a mammogram for over six years.

“Having something wrong with me wasn’t something I even considered. I’ve always been a ‘go, go, go’ sort of person and I’m very healthy. I haven’t even had so much as a headache.”

When Shirley made the appointment, the nurse asked if she had any problems.