The cost of a terminal illness

A terminally ill granddad faces selling treasured possessions to help pay health related bills after being offered a sickness benefit of just $20 a week.

Ivor Borland, 63, has Stage 4 Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disorder (COPD) and struggles to breathe.

The Wairau Valley resident and his partner Heather have already started selling possessions to help make ends meet, including their 1955 Chevrolet classic car.

Ivor, who has worked since he was 14 years old, says he was eligible for a sickness benefit of $20 a week - not enough to cover health related costs.

“When I went to WINZ, I was made to feel like a beggar, like I was worthless. The benefit is means tested so, basically, if I had worked less, I’d be entitled to more.

“I used to have faith in the system, I thought it would help take care of me if I needed it, but we have had to find ways to help ourselves and work out what I can sell.

“There should be something there for people who have worked hard and given good service to their country. I’ve paid a fair chunk of change over the years in taxes.”

Diagnosed with the serious life-limiting lung condition when he was 55 years old, Ivor has got steadily worse.

Even getting up from a chair can be a struggle and he says he only has about 30 per cent of his lung function left.

At a time when he and wife Heather want to make memories with their grandchildren and children, they are worrying about money, Ivor says.

Heather is working full time in a bid to help boost the couple’s income.

For Ivor, a former training coordinator with Wine Works, an assistant trade manager at Mitre 10 and latterly a caretaker at Marlborough Boys’ College, not working is very frustrating.

“I wanted to work right up until retirement but got to the stage where I couldn’t hide it [COPD] anymore,” he says.

The former smoker, who quit 10 years ago, blames his cigarette habit and his 33 years working in a cardboardbox factory for developing COPD.

Over a five-year period from 2007, Ivor was frequently admitted to hospital with what doctors believed was asthma.

Getting the eventual diagnosis from his GP was a huge shock, he says.

“I asked my GP about when I’d get better and she just looked at me, I knew then I was only going to get worse.

“I’m not scared of the outcome but I am scared of the journey, not just for me but for my family.

“This is not just about the money. Heather’s been lumbered with all the jobs I used to do and she’ll run herself into the ground.”

A chronic inflammatory lung disease that causes obstructed airflow from the lungs, COPD cannot be cured.

Ivor battles with breathing issues daily and is on regular medication and inhalers to help alleviate symptoms.

But he is more anxious over what the future will bring financially.

“I know we are lucky to have our own home, we have worked very hard for that. Now I sit in it and work out mentally what I can sell next.”

A long-time member of The Roadhouse Breakfast crew, Ivor meets regularly with other petrol heads.

His friends there are organising a special event to help raise some money for him.

His daughter Laura Ayers has also started a Give A Little page

“He's a kind, generous man who has worked his whole life, from the early age of 14, sometimes two to three jobs at a time, along with raising a family and helping anyone in need.

“Almost 50 years of paying taxes, yet he is entitled to about $20 financial help a week. “this is until he turns 65 when hopefully he will be entitled to the pension

Ivor declined the WINZ offer and kept working as long as he could because he had no other option, he says.

The Ministry of Social Development has been approached for comment.

https://givealittle.co.nz/cause/the-expense-of-a-terminal-illness