A young rural Mum who experienced complications from a double mastectomy will be the face of a campaign to get the doors of the South Island's largest patient accommodation facility open.

Kylie Raine, who lives on a lifestyle property near Kaikoura with husband Brendon and their boys Jackson, age eight, and Zach, age 7, stayed at Rānui House In Christchurch following her initial surgery last year.

"I hadn't even heard of Rānui House until a breast cancer nurse put me in touch with them, Raine says.

Raine had a double mastectomy after she was told she had the BRCA gene, a gene which dramatically increased her chance of developing breast cancer, a disease prevalent in her family.

A post-surgery report showed changes in the cells in Raines's breasts, meaning the surgery had been timely.

Raine was in for a difficult recovery, though, as her body rejected first one of the implants, and then the expander used to keep space while her body healed before another implant could be inserted.

She is now on a waiting list to have the other implant removed.

"For most people, this would just be a straightforward operation, and they would leave with perky boobs and a low chance of cancer.

"But now I've grieved the loss of those perky boobs and just want the complications over with, so I'm going completely flat."

Her initial stay at Rānui house was two weeks.

"That was fine, but then, after all my complications, I kept having to go back, sometimes for closer to three weeks."

It all adds up.

Raine has stayed at Rānui House for 44 nights across five different  visits.

Despite having a farm to maintain and his work as a truck driver, Raines's husband was reluctant to return to Kaikoura and leave her at Rānui House, but he felt reassured by the safe, welcoming environment close to the hospital.

"The staff were invested in my journey and would check in each time and ask how my appointment went and how much longer I was staying for, and it was just across the road from the hospital, so I could walk to appointments," Raine said.

The best part for Raine, though, was that there was space for her family to come and stay.

"I love my kids, and I hate being away from them.

“The kids are obsessed with Rānui House; they call it their second home."

Raine and her family will front the Time Together Campaign, which seeks to attract funding to expand Rānui House's accommodation to nearly triple its size with the addition of an apartment complex.

Bone Marrow Cancer Trust, which owns and operates Rānui House in Christchurch, will open Rānui Apartments next month to help meet constant demand, 14 years after the land for the development was purchased.

In 2023, Rānui House served 1,011 patients and their whānau for a total of 8,004 bed nights. Some families stay for weeks, others for months.

However, 664 families were turned away because the House was full.

Bone Marrow Cancer Trust Chief Executive Mandy Kennedy says Rānui Apartments can't come soon enough for families like the Raine family.

"Every day, we are in the unfortunate position of having to turn families away because we are full.

“It's heartbreaking," Kennedy says.

Kennedy said that construction costs have escalated dramatically since the land was purchased for the apartments 14 years ago.

"Like many major building projects, the closer we get to the end, the thinner the line gets between being in the red and the black.

"We have received incredible support to get this far, and we ask our community to give generously to help us get the doors of Rānui Apartments open."

Raine said that while she is normally a very private person, she is so grateful to Rānui House that she is eager to help with the campaign.

"I'm not an out-there type of person, but giving back meant so much because Rānui House has been my safety net for the last year; they have really been there for me.

"Everything about Rānui just makes those tough times so much easier- it's our light at the end of the tunnel."

By Claire Inkson