Eva McGauley’s Dying Wish is To Help Others

Eva McGauley is terminally ill. But she’s determined to fulfill her dying wish to help others. While any decent-minded person would forgive the 17-year-old New Zealander, who has a rare form of cancer, for focusing her energy on herself, she is devoting her life to empowering young people to make a difference in their communities. The Sydney Morning Herald reports.

McGauley has nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

“Everyone must handle [their sickness] differently. I wasn’t very worried about myself. I was more worried about the people around me who loved me,” Wellington-born McGauley said.

“I got the message that … young people wished they could do what I do but have no idea where to start. They need help with the first step, which can often be the hardest,” she said.

What she realised was young people like her needed their own organisation in New Zealand. So she created Eva’s Wish, which had its launch last week.

To help McGauley achieve her goals, New Zealand lingerie company Lonely, famous for its body positive campaigns and image, photographed her for a special campaign. The company donated all proceeds, $15,000, on 29 June to Eva’s Wish.

In the launch phase, Eva’s Wish will focus on three projects, including the creation of training videos to educate young people on fundraising and volunteering.

McGauley was also pivotal in helping establish New Zealand’s first text-based sexual assault counselling hotline, which goes live later this year.

Original article by Melissa Singer, The Sydney Morning Herald, June 29, 2017.