Uili and Suria
It's all about teamwork!
Four years ago, Presbyterian minister Uili Aukuso was so close to dying that he was put on an emergency flight to Auckland from Gisborne and his family didn’t expect to see him again. Weighing more than 140 kgs and suffering from chronic kidney and heart failure as well as high blood pressure, diabetes and severe sleep apnoea, Uili's chances didn’t look good. Miraculously, Uili survived, but his doctors were blunt about his future. "Lose weight if you want to be around for your children," he was told.
Uili's wife Suria explains that this ultimatum had a huge impact on their whole family. "We had come to a crossroad in our lives and we knew we had to make some major changes."
Uili made a great start by watching what he ate and leaving his vehicle behind when visiting parishioners. He lost 20 kgs over the course of a year. However, the challenge didn't end there. Sadly, Uili began to experience severe bouts of depression which he could not shake.
"After several consultations, we learnt that a major cause of his depression was a reaction to two of the medicines he took daily for his health problems," says Suria. "The great news came when we
were told that he could be taken off these drugs if he lost some more weight."
Suria and Uili realised that they had to work harder to change their lifestyle and improve Uili’s health. For Suria, this meant making a tough decision. She quit her job with the New Zealand Police. "I realised that all those years of shift work had meant that I often wasn’t home for meals and we were eating out or having takeaways three to four times a week," Suria says.
"Uili and I started walking together and making regular visits to the pool. Our daughters even got behind us by starting a family weight-loss challenge. We bought some digital scales and all put $20 into a kitty each week. Every week, we would weigh in and the one who lost the most weight won the kitty. It was a fun way to get the whole family involved," Suria continues.
It was then that Uili and Suria discovered Green Prescriptions. "We knew we needed help to keep motivated and the check-up phone calls from Green Prescription staff sounded like just the support we required. We try to keep each other on target, but having a 'friend' outside the household reminding you to be active really helps."
Uili and Suria are members of Gisborne's weekly Green Prescription Group (Group Active). They learn about good nutrition and try out other ways of being active. Today, both are 10 to 15 kgs lighter. As Suria exclaims, "We value the support we get from the Green Prescription team. We can’t do it alone – it’s all about teamwork!"
Updated | 07 Aug 2007.
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