Alex Young Faces Stage Four Cancer Battle with Community Support

Alex Young spent a lifetime stopping danger. Now the former All White and Tauranga City AFC stalwart is facing the fight of his life – and this time he needs help.

The 77-year-old has been diagnosed with stage four cancer and is staring at a $50,000 bill for treatment not funded by the health service, with friends and former teammates rallying to support him.

A shock diagnosis

Young first went to his doctor after noticing a growth on his left groin. Tests at hospital brought the news no one wants to hear.

Doctors told him he had what he describes as an “internal melanoma”, an aggressive cancer that has already spread.

“It was a strange one, but I've consequently got stage four cancer on my liver, on my lung, and on my chest,” he said.

Young spent six months on the immunotherapy drug Keytruda. Then the treatment stopped working.

He has now switched to ipilimumab, a powerful immunotherapy that, in his case, is not funded by Pharmac.

“I had my first procedure with that, which costs money, obviously. I think the first one was $10,400.”

Ipilimumab is publicly funded for some cancer types, but not for Young’s condition. That gap has left the former defender staring at a massive personal bill.

He is due for his second round of treatment at Tauranga’s Canopy Cancer Care on Wednesday. Four treatments are required in total.

A life built around football

Football has been the thread running through Young’s life.

He immigrated from Scotland at around 16, a tall teenager who quickly made his way through the grades. He became a standout for Hamilton City, lining up alongside names such as Keith Nelson and imposing himself on New Zealand football.

“Soccer is my sport and life, I suppose,” he said.

With his height – around 6 foot 4 – he was a natural defender. Strong in the air, hard in the challenge, he caught the eye when English sides Bournemouth and Luton Town toured.

Those performances earned him a place in the 1977 All Whites squad, a pinnacle in any New Zealand footballer’s career.

In Tauranga, he became more than just a player. Young took on the role of player-coach and drove the club to an unbeaten season, a feat that still carries weight in local football circles.

“A hard Scottish man”

For those who shared a dressing room with him, the diagnosis has hit hard.

Tauranga City AFC life member Mark Bougen, who served on the club committee with Young in the 1970s, said he was stunned to learn his old teammate had cancer.

He remembers a defender who set the tone physically and mentally.

“You would call him a no-fuss football defender, a hard Scottish man,” Bougen said. “When he played, he took no prisoners.”

That toughness is now being tested in a very different arena.

Community steps up

To help cover the cost of his treatment, friends have set up a Givealittle page with a target of $50,000 – money they describe as vital “to give Alex the best possible chance” against the disease.

The page notes that the financial strain of unfunded cancer treatment is “too much for one person or family to carry alone, especially while navigating the physical and emotional toll of a cancer diagnosis”.

Young admitted he was reluctant at first. Pride, perhaps. Or the instinct of a man more used to helping others than asking for help himself.

He changed his mind when he saw the work his friends were putting in.

“When they came around to see me, they were so good and they had so many good ideas. I thought, well, if they're willing to go to this trouble, I'll try it.”

At the time of writing, donations had reached about $2000. A start, but still a long way from the total needed.

Young has been deeply moved by every contribution.

“I'd like to thank them from the bottom of my heart. They're probably strangers. Thank you to them all.”

For decades, Alex Young stood tall at the back, protecting his team. Now, as he walks into another round of treatment in Tauranga, it’s the football community – and complete strangers – forming the defensive line around him.