09-05-2025
On The Up: Northland ovarian cancer patient gifts song to raise awareness
She recently travelled to Japan for cell-based immune therapy to give her the best chance of fighting the cancer. Fundraisers in her Paihia community helped with the costs.
Smith, now 34, is exploring the next steps in her treatment and said she feels lucky to be feeling well.
But there have been times in her cancer fight when she was in a dark place and feeling very alone. She ended up writing the song Dig Deeper about her journey, encouraging people to find inner strength.
Smith is donating the song to the Ovarian Cancer Foundation NZ, which has supported her in her journey.
On Thursday, which was World Ovarian Cancer Day, Smith and her supporters officially launched the song and its music video at Zane Grey's in Paihia.
She hopes it will also raise awareness of ovarian cancer, which is referred to as a silent killer because women often do not know they have it until it has spread through their body.
Smith wants to encourage Māori and Pasifika women, in particular, to look for symptoms and get tested, as they have much higher rates of ovarian cancer than other ethnicities.
'I don't know if what I do is helpful but I'm Māori and I have ovarian cancer. Maybe not being afraid to talk about it is a start,' she said.
'When I wrote Dig Deeper it was one of the hardest parts of my life. It's not just my story but every woman with ovarian cancer.'
Smith said she has been lucky to have the support of the community, including those who helped create a professional song: music producer Erick Gerber, videographer Ash Boyd and Philippa Kriz who lent venue Willow's Ranch for the music video.
Dig Deeper is now available on YouTube for people to enjoy, with encouragement to donate to the Ovarian Cancer Foundation.
Smith said it has been nice to spend her time on something so positive.
'I felt like I wanted to give back. It's not just for me but for every woman fighting ovarian cancer.'
She also wanted to thank those who ran a fundraising event to get her to Japan: Haylee Wilkes, Steph Godsiff, Jules DeRosa and Wendy Hopkinson.
