Whānau of a prominent cancer campaigner are reeling from the discovery a cherished pounamu has been removed from their father’s grave site.
Blair Vining was known for leading the campaign to establish a National Cancer Agency. Before dieing from bowel cancer in 2019, he and wife Melissa presented a 140,000 strong petition to parliament.
Vining’s charity lives on through his wife and rangatahi and the resulting Te Aho o Te Kahu: Cancer Control Agency was established by the government in December 2019.
Melissa says the taonga was gifted to Blair in 2019 by carver Trevor Willets, along with additional pounamu for Melissa and the couple’s two daughters. The pounamu had lay on Vining’s headstone since then, however the family discovered it had vanished when visiting their dad on Boxing Day.
“We would appreciate hearing from anyone who knows anything about this, it’s a distinctive shape and is from the same stone that matches special pieces the girls and I have.” Melissa wrote on Facebook.
"We are all devastated" she said.
Carver, Willetts told the ODT his feelings on whoever has taken the pounamu were 'not printable', but he appealed to them to return it as soon as possible.
"It's horrific, I just can't get my head around it at all" he said.
The gift Willetts said was in recognition of Blair sacrificing the remaining weeks of his life fighting for others, Blair had also lobbied for the creation of a Southland Charity Hospital which broke ground earlier this year.
“he could've been doing other things with his life. He chose to do this. Not many people in the world would do that.”
The family’s appeal is being tauktoko by Waihōpai Rūnaka kaumātua Michael Skerrett who cautioned it was tapu and could bring utu. Getting rid of the pounamu would not lift the tapu, it needed to be returned he said.
"No good can come of things by doing things like this.” He warned.
Skerrett offered to bless the stone and lift the tapu on its return.