Auckland Northland

“We can do hard” – The Camp Quality family walking together around the world

11 November 2025

News

The Cunliffe Family, from left; Dad Regan, Austin (15 - who has been growing his hair since Theo’s diagnosis), Eli (17), Montana (12), Mum Rachel, and Theo (10) at the Aramex Kiwi Walk and Run Trail Series Event in Auckland on Saturday.

 

When the Cunliffe family laced up their shoes for the Aramex Walk & Run Trail Series in Auckland this September, it was more than just a day out. For the Kaupakapaka-based family of six, it was a celebration of how far they’ve come together; for Theo, the youngest in the family and a childhood cancer survivor, it marked a milestone five years in the making.

Diagnosed with leukaemia at just five years old, Theo spent much of his early childhood in hospitals and isolation. So when he crossed that finish line, the youngest walker of the day to do it – he was strong, smiling, and so proud of what he had accomplished.

And right alongside him were his parents Rachel and Regan, who had sacrificed so much throughout his cancer journey, and his incredible, resilient siblings Eli (17), Austin (15), and Montana (12).

“After everything Theo and our family have been through, it’s moments like that that mean everything,” said Rachel.

The night that everything changed

In January 2020, life changed for the entire Cunliffe family. It started innocuously enough: Theo came down with a sore stomach at dinner. But that soon turned into several weeks at Starship Hospital and a leukaemia diagnosis.

As Covid lockdowns began in 2020, Theo began a long and difficult journey with chemotherapy that would last nearly two and a half years. Regan set aside his career as a journalist to care for Theo full-time; Rachel was constantly busy, running her website business and being there for Theo during hospital visits. And Eli, Austin, and Montana – still very young themselves – faced a totally alien ‘new normal’, with challenges that never seemed to let up.

With all the illnesses going around in 2022, there was a high risk of his siblings getting sick at school and bringing it back to immunocompromised Theo. Together, the whole family stepped up and decided to shift to home-schooling for a year. The kids brought their best focus, and Regan became the house teacher.

Making it through together

Like many families facing childhood cancer, the Cunliffes were in survival mode during Theo’s entire treatment journey. Every decision, and every bit of energy, went into his care.

While Theo bravely faced painful and exhausting treatments, the rest of the family faced countless difficult changes, too. With so much going on, the siblings often didn’t have the space and attention that most kids do at their age, which was really tough on everyone.

Through all of this, the family had to learn how to work through the hard things together. Rachel remembered, “We just couldn’t bottle anything up – there was too much there. So we all learned how to be more open, to talk to one another.”

That’s when the family mantra was born: We can do hard. “We wrote it down and framed it in our house,” Rachel said. “It reminded us that we could talk about anything, that we could get through anything.”

Together the family learned how to communicate more openly. They took an early piece of advice – don’t hide behind soft language; make sure you use the correct terminology – and always made sure they talked about what was going on clearly and plainly.

They learned how to express their feelings more openly, too. Eli, Austin, and Montana went to support groups with Leukaemia & Blood Cancer’s Sibling programme and learned how to process what they were going through. With the family closer than ever, they helped each other do hard. And even today, they are able to be honest and open with each other no matter how difficult things feel.

Discovering Camp Quality

When Theo’s treatment finally ended, life didn’t just snap back to how it was before. As Rachel explained, “It takes a long time to stop feeling on edge all the time. You’re still living with a constant awareness.”

When Theo was healthy enough to go to Camp Quality, Rachel and Regan were understandably nervous, but excited to give him the chance to be independent. “It really helped to be able to meet some of the people from Camp Quality first,” said Rachel.

“Ghissy, the Camper Registrar for our region, is just such a wonderful person and was so supportive and helpful. Then, his companion Kavahn also met us ahead of his first camp. It was clear right from meeting him that he just gives it his all, and Theo absolutely loves him.”

Theo’s first camp was a winter camp in 2024. He returned with heaps of stories and so much excitement. “When I picked him up, he couldn’t stop talking about all the things he had done. Camp gave him the chance to go and have experiences that were all his own. That meant a lot to him.”

It’s an aspect of camp that sometimes goes under the radar. Often, camp is the first independent experience for the kids who go; they’re able to make memories of their own, which is such an important and pivotal part of childhood that often they’ve missed out on because of cancer treatments.

The next summer, Theo couldn’t wait to go back and experience a full week of camp with Kavahn again. When he returned home, he was full of stories – from the crazy things like flying in the Hercules C-130H, to the simple things like dressing up in costumes and trying new crafts.

Finding the way forward as a whole family

It can be hard to readjust as a family at every stage of the cancer journey – even after kids are in remission. One of the ways the Cunliffes have found their way through is by having shared, fun walks to do together.

It started when Rachel started training for the Auckland Marathon. She raised money for Leukaemia & Blood Cancer New Zealand – and finished strong. Her kids were impressed, and it soon became a family affair.

“The kids didn’t always love it, but I think they appreciated it,” said Rachel. “We started with simple 6km walks. Then, we had the goal to go to Montana, where I used to live and the place where my daughter was named after, so we got all the kids conditioned for a 12km walk.”

After that big Montana trip, the whole family was hooked. Even Theo, who had struggled a lot when he first started walking, was able to push himself mentally and physically to make it long distances.

When the opportunity to do the Aramex walk camp up, he didn’t bat an eye. And when he was the youngest person of the day to get his medal at the end, after a walk full of people he knew and loved from his time at camp, it was clear just how proud he was of what he had accomplished.

Next up, the family is planning a trip to Tongariro to do the world-famous 19km walk. Rachel says the mountain will be challenging. But, of course, she knows that her whole family is strong. And together, they can face just about anything.