| Hibiscusmatters | September 16, 201514

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Danielle Teixeira and Crystal Cook present an image of strength and confidence as they pull on their gloves and train in their chosen kickboxing disciplines.Getting to this point has been a difficult journey for Danielle, who is in her mid-thirties, and Crystal, aged 13, and each has their own mental, emotional and physical challenges. Both have reached the point where they can compete on the international stage.For Danielle, every day is a one on one battle with Borderline Personality Disorder.She was diagnosed with this mental illness at the age of 21 – she says she was in a bad place and needed help.Overweight and unfit, she applied to be one of Dynamic Martial Arts first Fight Girls – which provided the opportunity to learn, free of charge, and take part in a competitive fight.Dynamic head coach Dave Sawyer says taking her on was touch and go. “When she first came in, I had money on her quitting in three weeks,” he says. “Her weight was an obvious physical challenge and her mental health issues were something we, as coaches, had no experience with.”His approach was to observe Danielle closely and not to panic, or pander, when she had a panic attack.

Kickboxing provides more than fighting chanceEventually, she earned the right to compete and was one of Fight Girls biggest success stories. “Something clicked when I won my first fight. I raised my trophy above my head and thought ‘wow’,” she says.Two months ago she earned her club/provisional black belt and at the end of October she heads to the Unified World Championships in Spain to compete for her country.“It was a huge risk to take her on in Fight Girls, but it paid off,” Dave says. “Likewise, if she loses the plot at Worlds, it’s a problem for our club. But she’s part of the family. Why should having a mental illness stop her going to the event? She’s earned it.”Turning up to learn kickboxing was a huge step for Danielle and one she took because of abusive relationships. “People with my illness attract bullies. I was tired of being a victim. I wanted to fight back against the idea that I was useless and can’t do things by myself, or for myself,” she says. “Not many people mess with me now.”Danielle says kickboxing doesn’t fix your problems, but it has changed the way she thinks and copes, how she expresses herself and tells people what she needs. “I ask myself at the end of every day – who won, me or Borderline? And for the most part, these days, it’s me.”

World title just the beginningWhen Crystal Cook of Whangaparaoa first took up Muay Thai kickboxing at the Hibiscus Coast MMA & Thai Kickboxing Gym four years ago it immediately felt right.The 13-year-old struggles at school. Dyslexia, ADHD and anger issues continue to cause her problems but the bullying that she received “a lot” has fled in the face of her newfound confidence.“Kick boxing helped with my anger,” she says. “Instead of getting in trouble I could go to the gym. I also learned to defend myself when people bullied me.”As her fitness and skills improved, so did her confidence. She has had 11 wins out of 14 fights so far. The biggest was a world title won last month at the Muay Thai Championships in Thailand where she not only won a Gold medal, but also a trophy for Best Muay Thai kick boxer in her age group.Along the way, Crystal says she found a supportive second ‘family’ at the gyms she belongs to. She trains every day except Sundays and has her sights set on next year’s Worlds in Sweden. “One day I’d love to have my own gym and give back to the people who have taught me,” she says.

Danielle Teixeira. A video of Danielle talking candidly about her kickboxing journey is linked to this story at localmatters.co.nz She needs to raise around $2000 to get to the Worlds and donations can be made at her Give A Little account, ‘danstoworlds’.

Crystal Cook won this trophy for Best Muay Thai Kickboxer in her age group, at the world champs in Bangkok.

September 16, 2015 | Hibiscusmatters | 15

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Alexandra Crosbie has worked with hearing-impaired children for nearly 20 years and says technology and early diagnosis is helping them reach their full potential.The Red Beach resident is one of only seven certified auditory verbal therapists in the country and has been working at The Hearing House – a charitable organisation that provides support for deaf children and their families – for more than a decade.She says the focus at The Hearing House is on teaching children, even if they are profoundly deaf, to listen and speak – something that is possible thanks to early screening of infants to determine hearing loss, funding for cochlear implants and improvements in hearing aid technology.When a child is diagnosed with hearing loss, the family is referred to an advisor who provides them with information so that an informed choice can be made between implants and other options such as sign language.“Most parents of deaf children are not deaf themselves, and they find being able to talk to their child in a language in which they are proficient is easier,” Alexandra says. “For a high proportion of our families, that’s a spoken language but it’s all about informed parent choice.” Recently Alexandra returned from a conference in the United States.

Alexandra Crosbie gives a Loud Shirt shout out for donations.

Message loud and clear for hearing impaired

She says an awareness of single sided deafness was one of the big things she took away from the conference. “Having hearing loss in one ear impacts on a child’s life and learning, yet those children are generally expected to do as well as hearing kids,” she says.She says currently around 68 percent of deaf children in NZ go into mainstream schools.The importance of working closely with parents and caregivers was also highlighted at the conference and led to the introduction of a new playgroup at The Hearing House.On September 18, The Hearing House holds its national fundraiser, Loud Shirt Day – an opportunity to to wear a bright, shirt, raising funds for deaf children. If you’ve missed Loud Shirt Day, donations can be made at loudshirtday.org.nz

| Hibiscusmatters | September 16, 201516

Health&fitness feature

Eye issuesMy freesias are in full bloom in our garden and there’s a light coating of yellow pine pollen on my car. That can only mean one thing. Spring has finally sprung! And as a community pharmacist it also means the hay fever and conjunctivitis season has arrived.If you’ve got conjunctivitis you’ll have red, irritated eyes that feel gritty, sore and uncomfortable. They might also be itchy, sticky and weepy. Conjunctivitis comes in three main types. With major colds and the flu hitting the Hibiscus Coast quite seriously right now, many in our community will develop infective conjunctivitis. However you don’t actually need a cold or flu to catch this. Given the amount of pollen I see around at the moment, it is no surprise that allergic conjunctivitis is prevalent too. There is also a further type called irritant conjunctivitis caused by, of course, irritants.Infectious conjunctivitis can be caused by a bacteria or virus. These infections can be very contagious. You’ll need to take special care not to spread the infection to your other eye or to other people. The infection should clear within a week if left untreated. However the need for antibiotics for bacterial infections should be considered in certain circumstances, to prevent complications or to prevent the spread of infection to other people. The antibiotic Choramphenicol is available from pharmacies and your pharmacist can advise you whether this would be the most appropriate treatment for you.Allergic conjunctivitis may be due to triggers such as pollen or some people suffer from it all year round due to house dust or pet fur. Antihistamine eye drops are useful in the treatment of allergic conjunctivitis and/or oral antihistamines.If there is pain in your eye, or if your vision is affected, or your eyes are more sensitive to light than usual then you will need to see a doctor.Here are some tips for general eye care for conjunctivitis: y Wash your hands before and after using eye drops or touching your eyes y Apply a warm flannel to your eyes to clean away any discharge y Apply normal saline to wash and soothe your eyes twice daily y Use lubricant eye drops 4 to 8 times daily to soothe your eyes

Well I’m off to pick my freesias and inhale a bit of that spring air. Just as long as I don’t get too much pollen at the same time!

with Tania Adams, pharmacist tania.adams@manlycarechemist.co.nz

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Almost $4000 was raised for the Respite NZ Charitable Trust by a sponsored walk from Gulf Harbour to Orewa Estuary, as well as around the estuary walkway. The 21km walk, on August 29, took Respite NZ trustee Monica Grimshaw and miniature horse Trinity a total of three and a half hours. Around 17 people joined Monica on the Estuary section of the walk. The fundraiser was organised by a team from The Respite NZ Trust, which operates Platinum Community Care in Red Beach. Monica says she wants to thank everyone involved for their support and a great day’s walk.

September 16, 2015 | Hibiscusmatters | 17

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The price of a dog trained to assist five-year-old autistic boy Tom Stephenson of Orewa is almost within reach for his family, with a further fundraising effort to be held this month at KingsWay School.His grandmother, Jocelyn Parker, says that since the story ran in Hibiscus Matters’ July 15 edition about Tom’s need for a dog, the fundraising total has reached just over $13,000. The dogs allow boys like Tom, who loves to explore but has no concept of danger, more freedom to safely roam, inside and out. To increase safety and lessen the bolting behaviours common in children with autism, the dogs act as an anchor when harnessed to the child, as well as improving social and behavioural skills.They are highly trained, which costs around $48,000 – families are asked to contribute $20,000 towards this cost.Assistance Dogs NZ has earmarked a dog for the family and if the money is raised, it could be with them by Christmas.To help the family reach the total, Dedre Bloem has organised a Ladies’ Evening Out which is to be held at

Saving women’s lives through better research is one of the focuses of the annual Pink Ribbon Appeal, which will be held on Friday and Saturday, October 9 and 10.But to be successful, the appeal needs to recruit around 9000 volunteers nationwide to help with the door-to-door collection.Hibiscus Coast coordinator Jessica Daly says volunteers are asked to donate two hours of their time. “You can make a difference and help raise funds for lifesaving education programmes and for people with breast cancer,” she says.“Last year, $6780 was raised locally

and we hope to improve on that figure this year.”Money raised is spent on breast health education and promoting early detection through mammograms, running the support advice line for women with breast cancer, and research for better treatment and greater survival.Eight women are diagnosed with breast cancer every day and yet, 30 per cent of those eligible for free screening are not enrolled. Additionally, it is estimated that around 60 per cent of young women don’t know the signs beyond a lump.To volunteer, contact Jessica on 021 064 8291.

Ladies’ night supports Tom

KingsWay School Event Centre on September 25, starting at 7pm. It is an opportunity for individuals or groups of friends to enjoy an evening of “laughter, love and snacks” with plenty of spot prizes and raffles that include prizes such as a two night stay at any City Life Hotel and a full day Family Pass at Snowplanet. Guest speaker is Rechelle McNair on the topic of ‘I am Woman, hear me Roar’.Booking is essential and single tickets, or tables for groups are available. Info and bookings: phone Dedre, 021 023 02858 or email bloemdd@gmail.com

Pink Ribbon calls for volunteers

Tom Stephenson with a visiting Assistant dog called Cooper.