Source: Radio New Zealand
Loran, her husband and two sons, aged one and three. Supplied
A young mum facing life-threatening delays for cancer treatment may be forced to raise more than $1 million for a stem cell transplant overseas.
At only 29-years-old, Loran Geddes was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia in November last year.
Her symptoms started long before that – around July, but as a busy mum to two young boys, she managed to cast them aside.
She was bruising a lot but worked rearing calves. She was tired all the time, but her kids kept her up at night. She had night sweats, but even her doctor told her that because she was breastfeeding, this was likely to be hormonal.
It wasn’t until chest pains that she’d had for two weeks became so bad that she couldn’t lie on one side that knew something was wrong.
After her diagnosis, Geddes was put straight on a waiting list for a stem cell transplant.
Shortly after beginning chemotherapy, it was found her cancer had mutations, putting her in a high-risk category, and making an allogenic stem cell transplant the only possible way to treat her leukaemia.
Despite this, she was told May was the earliest she would be able to receive the transplant.
In order to get the treatment, she must be in remission, which she achieved in January after her second cycle of chemotherapy.
She had a donor from the UK lined up, after she discovered neither of her siblings or anyone in the New Zealand database was a match.
But instead, she sat and waited, undergoing two more rounds of preventative chemo.
After Geddes completed her third cycle of chemo, she met with her haematologist, who delivered the blow that her transplant date had now been pushed out to August at the earliest – nine months after her diagnosis.
“Those words from the doctor were the hardest things to hear. We’ve remained really positive throughout this whole journey. And hearing you go home and sit and wait now was terrifying.
“The waiting for a transplant is really risky for me. These delays put me in a position of potential relapse.”
Geddes is worried that the delay could ultimately cost her life.
Loran, her husband and two sons, aged one and three. Supplied
“The delays could be the difference between me living or dying, unfortunately.”
“My most critical time is within the three months following my last chemo treatment and my stem cell transplant is not scheduled until at least six months post my last sort of chemo. So a bit daunting sitting and waiting.”
Patients left in limbo by funding boost
Geddes hasn’t been given a definitive reason as to why her transplant date was pushed out another three months, but it ultimately all comes down to waitlists.
Stem cell transplants can only be done in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch – Geddes is on the Auckland list, but all three have hefty wait times.
“They don’t have the capacity for patients. They haven’t had the funding previously.
“They’ve now received some funding, but it’s going to take a couple of years for them to catch up on the waitlist and improve waitlist times, which is not obviously going to help me at this current point.”
In November 2025, the health minister announced a $27 million funding boost for stem cell transplants, to recruit to the specialist workforce, increase hospital capacity, and upgrade infrastructure.
The year prior, a $6.11 million investment was made to enable Health New Zealand to begin improvements immediately.
While Geddes said it is great that funding has been allocated, it is doing little for people in her situation.
She wants to know exactly where that funding has gone, and said each time she has asked the answer has been vague.
“I’d really like to know where some of the funding has been used so far. I know they received about 6.1 million in 2024 and then the following 27.1 million in 2025.”
“I understand that money is only just being rolled out now, but I’d love to know where that first initial 6 million has gone.
“I think they’ve had a good couple of years now to have implemented something to have helped some sort of procedure to decrease these wait times.”
Executive national director clinical at Health New Zealand, Richard Sullivan, said while the initial $6.11m investment has made a material difference to those waiting for a stem cell transplant, demand still exceeds capacity.
That investment has gone towards appointing 21 new full-time staff in Christchurch, and 26 full time staff in Auckland, with another five still to be appointed in May.
Sullivan said the investment has meant 125 allogeneic transplants were delivered in 2025, up from 114 in 2024.
But for patients like Loran, that does little to help.
The further $27 million will be implemented over the next three years with an aim to increase allogenic transplants to 161 over 2027 and 2028.
Health Minister Simeon Brown said ensuring patients who need stem cell transplants can access this life-saving treatment is a priority for him.
Health Minister Simeon Brown. RNZ / Mark Papalii
When announcing the funding late last year, Brown said every New Zealander deserves access to timely treatment that can save their life.
Geddes said that statement is “ridiculous”.
“It does not apply to myself in this situation. And I’m sure there are a lot of people in my situation at this current time that would laugh at that statement.
“It hasn’t improved wait times. It’s not going to save our lives. They don’t look at it case by case. It is solely just when you’re added to a wait list.”
The million dollar price tag for survival
For Geddes, August isn’t an answer. If she relapses any time before her transplant she will have to undergo chemotherapy again until she in remission.
There is no option to have the transplant done privately in New Zealand, meaning she is now looking overseas to Australia.
“If we look to go to Australia into their public system, it could take just as long because we would have to be eligible for Medicare and all sorts of other things.”
The only other option in Australia would be to go private – the treatment alone would cost around $1.2 million.
That doesn’t account for the cost of Geddes, her husband and two young sons relocating for around eight months.
It’s a price tag that is far out of reach for the family.
“We would have to do a lot of fundraising and see if we could get other family members to help us or friends to help us get there because as my husband and I and our kids, realistically it’s not possible.”
The family have set up a give a little to help fundraise and enable them to explore any other options that may get Geddes the treatment she needs.
She said the health system here has left her feeling has left her feeling overlooked and ignored.
“The fact that we’re having to look outside of this country for other options to try and save my life, I feel like we’re pretty failed by this healthcare system and this country.
“I know there must be a lot of people in my situation, and I just wish there was a few more people that would speak up about it. More people in my situation, if they spoke up and made a bit of noise, that potentially, it wouldn’t be so overlooked or ignored.”
While she now must search for another option that may help her chances of survival, all Geddes wants to do is to get back to her kids and normal life.
“I have a one-year-old and a three-year-old, two little boys. And for my life, I would love to see them grow up. I’d love to get back into work. I’d love to get back into activities that I enjoy. Just being a part of the community again and contributing to my kids’ lives.”
Funding needed, but hasn’t come soon enough
Health New Zealand told Checkpoint they are currently working to develop waiting time standards for stem cell transplants.
As of December 2025 there were 228 patients on the wait list, like Loran 110 of these were allogeneic, meaning they require a donor.
Between March and November last year, patients in Auckland waited an average of 184 days for a transplant, including 82 days of waiting after they were medically ready.
Sullivan said Loran’s treatment delay is the result of nationwide capacity constraints for stem cell transplants.
While the new funding will reduce the waitlist over the longer term, Health NZ recognises this doesn’t help Loran right now.
At this stage she is scheduled to get her transplant no later than mid-August at Auckland Hospital, however, the Auckland team will continue to look for opportunities to bring this forward.
Along with increasing the number of transplants delivered annually, the $27 million of funding will go towards 79 full time staff; 23 in Auckland, 31 in Wellington, and 26 in Christchurch.
Auckland and Wellington will also see increased inpatient space, with eight new beds decided to oncology/haematology patients in Auckland.
Brown told Checkpoint he expects Health New Zealand to continue prioritising this work, including recruiting to the specialist workforce, increasing hospital capacity, and upgrading infrastructure so that more New Zealanders receive stem cell transplants when they need them.
Blood Cancer New Zealand said Geddes’ situation is very concerning.
“A timely transplant would give her a real chance of returning home to her family and being there for her two boys. In many comparable countries, this would be the expected pathway. A wait of this length is neither clinically nor ethically acceptable.
“Whilst last year’s budget increase showed responsiveness to the waitlist issue, it is deeply distressing that this has not come soon enough for patients like Loran.”
While the funding boost is necessary step, they said it does not address immediate risk for patients currently waiting.
They said they would continue advocate for further urgency so future patients aren’t placed in the same situation as Geddes.
Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
