In Rotorua, a widow named Shirley Hazelwood has transformed private grief into public purpose, organizing a Blue Walk fundraiser after her husband Daniel died from prostate cancer that went undetected until it had already spread beyond reach. His story is one that one in eight men share, yet the infrastructure to catch the disease early remains far behind what exists for other cancers. The walk — a thirty-minute loop through the lakefront on September 29 — is both a memorial and an argument: that early detection saves lives, and that a government-funded national screening programme could spare
Rotorua widow turns grief into action with Blue Walk for prostate cancer awareness
Daniel Hazelwood died from prostate cancer, leaving behind his widow Shirley and family members who continue advocating for early detection.
The hole they leave doesn't get smaller; you learn how to live around it.
Mark
So Daniel saw a post on social media and decided to get tested. That's what triggered the diagnosis?
Mimi
Yes. A friend had posted about prostate cancer and the importance of screening. He made an appointment with his doctor. But by then it had already spread quite far—to his bladder, hips, and spine.
Luke
Do we know how long he'd had it before that? Or how quickly it progressed after diagnosis?
Mimi
The source doesn't give us those details. We know he was diagnosed in August 2021 and that it was aggressive, but the timeline of how long it had been growing isn't specified.
Mark
And Shirley talks about the fear he carried—not fear of dying, but fear of losing his life as he knew it.
Mimi
That's what she emphasized. The hardest part for him wasn't the diagnosis itself, but the thought of not being able to do the things he loved, and leaving his family behind.
Luke
That's powerful, but I want to be careful here. That's Shirley's interpretation of what Daniel felt. We don't have Daniel's own words about it.
Mimi
That's fair. We're hearing her account of his experience, which is what we have.
Mark
And now the Blue Walk is continuing his work—getting men to talk about screening.
Mimi
Exactly. Heinz Fett, who runs the support group with Daniel, is pushing for a national screening programme funded by the government, like what exists for breast cancer.
Luke
Is there any pushback on that idea in the source material? Any reason why a national programme hasn't been established?
Mimi
No, the source doesn't address that. It's Fett's advocacy position, but we don't have the other side of the conversation.
Mark
So the walk is September 29. What's the goal?
Mimi
Raise money for the Prostate Cancer Foundation, which provides counselling, fitness programmes, family support, education, and research funding. Last year they raised about five thousand dollars.
El Pulso
- Daniel Hazelwood's cancer had already reached his bladder, hips, and spine by the time a friend's social media post prompted him to get tested — a reminder that silence around men's health carries a body count.
- Shirley describes grief not as something that fades but as something you learn to live around, a permanent reshaping of ordinary life that no statistic prepares a family for.
- Heinz Fett, who has organized Rotorua's Blue Walk since 2016, points to a troubling imbalance: prostate cancer kills at a higher rate than breast cancer, yet lacks an equivalent national screening programme.
- On September 29, a fire engine, a brass band, spot prizes, and a sausage sizzle will accompany walkers along the Rotorua Lakefront — community ritual as a vehicle for a serious public health message.
- Organizers are pressing for government-funded prostate cancer screening, arguing that what saved lives in breast cancer detection could do the same here, if the political will follows the evidence.
In Rotorua, a widow named Shirley Hazelwood has transformed private grief into public purpose, organizing a Blue Walk fundraiser after her husband Daniel died from prostate cancer that went undetected until it had already spread beyond reach. His story is one that one in eight men share, yet the infrastructure to catch the disease early remains far behind what exists for other cancers. The walk — a thirty-minute loop through the lakefront on September 29 — is both a memorial and an argument: that early detection saves lives, and that a government-funded national screening programme could spare other families the particular weight of a loss that arrives too late to have been prevented.
Shirley Hazelwood had heard the statistic before — one in eight men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer — but it passed through her the way numbers do until 2021, when her husband Daniel made an appointment after seeing a friend's post online. The results were devastating. The cancer was aggressive and had already spread to his bladder, hips, and spine. Treatment could slow it, but not stop it. He died with a fear less about his own death than about leaving behind the people who needed him.
In the years since, Shirley has learned what the statistics never capture: that grief doesn't shrink, it simply becomes part of how you move through the world. But Daniel, in his final months, had grown passionate about one thing — urging other men to get checked. His family chose to carry that mission forward. His eldest daughter Leigha and the Rotorua Sunrise Rotary Club organized a Blue Walk in his memory, raising around five thousand dollars last year for the Prostate Cancer Foundation.
This year's walk takes place on September 29, beginning at five-thirty in the evening from the Village Green at Rotorua Lakefront. A fire engine leads the thirty-minute route past the hospital and back via Eat Streat, with a brass band accompanying walkers. Entry is ten dollars for adults and a gold coin for children. Shirley asks everyone to wear blue.
Heinz Fett, who has co-organized the Rotorua Blue Walk since its founding in 2016 and shared the support group coordination role with Daniel, keeps his message focused: get men talking, and get them tested. He has long advocated for a government-funded national screening programme equivalent to what exists for breast cancer — a gap he considers indefensible given that prostate cancer's death rate is actually higher. Early detection, he says, changes everything.
For Shirley, every step taken on that route is a conversation that might save a life. Sharing Daniel's story, she believes, is the point — not only to honour him, but to give other families more time with the men they love. Those unable to attend can donate through the Rotorua Blue Walk page on the Blue September website.
Shirley Hazelwood used to hear the statistics without really absorbing them. One in eight men would get prostate cancer. The number floated past like so many others until it became personal—until it was her husband.
Daniel Hazelwood saw a friend's social media post in 2021 encouraging men to get tested. He made an appointment. What came back was devastating. The cancer was aggressive and had already spread to his bladder, hips, and spine. By the time it was found, treatment could only slow its advance and buy him time with the people he loved. He died carrying a fear that had nothing to do with his own mortality: the fear of not being able to live the life he wanted, and the weight of leaving behind those who depended on him.
In the months and years after his death, Shirley learned something about grief that the statistics never captured. The families left behind spend years trying to reassemble their lives while carrying a loss that doesn't diminish—it just becomes part of how you move through the world. The hole doesn't get smaller. You learn to live around it.
But Daniel had become passionate about something in those final months: encouraging other men to get checked. He wanted his diagnosis, however late it came, to mean something beyond his own story. After he died, his family decided to continue that mission. His eldest daughter, Leigha, and the Rotorua Sunrise Rotary Club organized a Blue Walk to raise money for the Prostate Cancer Foundation. Blue September is the foundation's annual awareness month, and last year's walk brought in about five thousand dollars.
The walk happens on September 29, starting at five-thirty in the evening from the Village Green at Rotorua Lakefront. It's a thirty-minute route that passes the hospital and loops back via Eat Streat. Adults pay ten dollars to enter; children contribute a gold coin. A local fire engine leads the way, and a brass band plays along the route. There will be spot prizes and a sausage sizzle. Shirley asks people to dress in blue.
Heinz Fett has helped organize Rotorua's Blue Walk every year since it started in 2016. He and Daniel were both coordinators for the local prostate cancer support group. Fett's focus is simple: awareness and getting men to talk about it. He's been pushing for something bigger—a government-funded national screening programme like the one that exists for breast cancer. The death rate from prostate cancer is actually higher than from breast cancer, he points out, yet the screening infrastructure doesn't match. Early detection, he says, is the real key. A prostate cancer diagnosis doesn't have to be the end of the story.
Shirley knows that every step in that walk spreads awareness and starts conversations that might save lives. If sharing Daniel's story convinces even one man to call his doctor, she said, then they're making a difference. The walk isn't really about remembering Daniel, though of course it is. It's about giving other families the chance to keep their fathers, husbands, brothers, sons, and friends for longer. That's why they walk. People who can't attend can donate through the Rotorua Blue Walk fundraising page on the Blue September website.
Citas Notables
If sharing Daniel's story encourages even one man to make an appointment with his doctor, then we know we are making a difference.— Shirley Hazelwood
My whole thing is about awareness and getting guys to talk about it. Early detection is really the key.— Heinz Fett
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