For NZ Paralympic Team physiotherapist Helene Barron, the Milano Cortina 2026 Paralympic Winter Games represented more than just a professional milestone. The cancer survivor reflects on a challenging few years and the motivation it has given her to support others on their own journeys.
When joining the NZ Paralympic Team at a pre-camp in Dobbiaco in February, it marked what Helene describes as her “full circle moment.”
It was exactly three years earlier, while staying at the same hotel in the Italian ski resort with the New Zealand Para alpine ski team, that Helene – a mother of two – first resigned herself to the likelihood she had cancer.
“To be back in Dobbiaco and be around the people who were there with me from the start of my cancer journey was very special,” she says. “When I was in Daffodil House in Dunedin recovering (Paralympian #158) Adam Hall (MNZM) would come and visit me. To work with Adam and (Paralympian #188) Corey Peters (MNZM) – two very special Paralympians who have themselves overcome many hurdles – was hugely meaningful. Sharing that full circle moment was special.”
Helene first identified a medical issue while working with the New Zealand team at the 2023 Park and Pipe World Championships in Georgia. She had previously experienced a raw tongue caused by a sharp tooth, but the sore patch had always healed quickly. In Georgia, however, she grew concerned when the sore began to worsen.
“The sore was initially about half the size of my little fingernail, and when I looked again a couple of days later, it had grown even bigger,” explains the Wānaka-based physiotherapist. “As a physio, I’m familiar with the human body. I know mouths generally heal quickly, and this wasn’t normal.”
After leaving Georgia for Dobbiaco, and with the sore continuing to grow, the reality began to sink in.
“I had three weeks remaining on the tour, and it no longer looked anything like a tongue ulcer,” she recalls. “I considered booking an appointment in Italy but decided to wait until I got home. In my heart, though, I knew I had cancer.”
Her suspicions proved correct. Her GP referred her for further tests in Dunedin, where she underwent a partial glossectomy to remove a quarter of her tongue, followed by six weeks of radiation treatment.
The mother of two boys – Lucas, 18, and Quinn, 16 – and wife to Corey Barron, Helene reflects: “Many elements were tough but coping with cancer while still wanting to be strong for my kids was the hardest. Healing physically is difficult enough, but that fear of the unknown when your family is involved is incredibly challenging emotionally.”
An accomplished trail and ultrarunner, Helene had finished fifth in the 2023 Tarawera Ultramarathon (100-mile event). But just six weeks later, she was diagnosed with tongue cancer and faced a very different kind of endurance challenge.
“I didn’t know it at the time, but in many ways ultrarunning had prepared me for the cancer journey,” she says. “Like an ultrarunning race, you start with great plans but need to keep adapting. You put one foot in front of the other and keep learning. You trust your team, your support crew. My cancer battle was, in many respects, a similar process.”
A naturally open person, Helene found strength in documenting her journey through video journals, which she shared on social media. Moved by her honesty, Wānaka-based filmmaker and friend Ben Wallbank offered to help record her experience. Initially intended as a personal archive, the project soon evolved into a documentary – Onwards – aimed at raising awareness of head and neck cancers, supporting others on similar journeys, and fundraising for the Cancer Society.
Selected as a finalist at the 2025 Doc Edge Film Festival, the raw and intimate film follows Helene’s fight to reclaim her voice and identity, while also shining a light on a disease in which 77 New Zealanders are diagnosed every day.
“My hope is to use Onwards to raise awareness of cancer and highlight the amazing mahi of the Cancer Society,” says Helene. “It’s about supporting others navigating their own journeys while giving back to a cause that supported me when I needed it most.
“My mum died from a brain tumour, and the Cancer Society had been hugely supportive, so I wanted to do my bit,” she adds. “It’s important to be a positive voice. Even with a medical background, knowing where to turn after a diagnosis is incredibly challenging. I wanted to raise awareness and funds for Daffodil House – the accommodation facility where I stayed during treatment.”
Returning to work for High Performance Sport NZ, Helene candidly admits she is now living in a “new normal.” Her head, neck, and mouth control differ from before her diagnosis. After losing a quarter of her tongue, she had to relearn how to speak and eat. When tired or dehydrated, she sometimes slurs her words, and the loss of saliva has led to ongoing dental challenges.
“I had an emotional wobble about three or four months after coming home from treatment and sought counselling to help me work through that. It was another amazing service provided by the Cancer Society.” she explains. “The radiation was brutal – it caused a lot of brain fog – and the healing process took time. It took about a year to rebuild my energy levels. Still, I consider myself very lucky. It could have been much worse.”
Given her extensive experience working with Para athletes and snow sports competitors, Helene was appointed NZ Paralympic Team physiotherapist for the Milano Cortina 2026 Paralympic Winter Games. Returning to Dobbiaco before heading to Cortina for the Games brought many special memories, with a highlight being Adam Hall’s silver medal in the Men’s Slalom Standing.
Reflecting on the Games, Helene says: “It was a great coming together – a celebration of what makes people different. It was a very special event to be part of. It reinforced the human spirit and, at its heart, the desire to want the best for each other. A huge part of the Para environment is that one person succeeds because of the work of many.”
Looking ahead, Helene hopes to continue working at major international sporting events, but her cancer journey has reinforced for her the importance of knowing yourself and what’s important to you and prioritise looking after that.
“Someone once told me we all juggle a lot of balls in life. It’s okay to juggle them – but don’t drop the glass ones,” she says. “The glass balls, things like health and family are so precious, and we need to look after them. You only get one shot at life – this incredible opportunity to make it what you want it to be, for yourself and for the people around you.”
