Abe's Story

As a father of seven Abe Mitchell takes his provider role seriously. So the shock of being turned down for life insurance gave him all the motivation he needed to get his heart checked and take action to protect his family.

I worked for an organisation where a lot of things were taken care of life insurance was one of them. Then I moved to a role job that wasn't as physical.

In his new job Abe no longer had the same automatic access to life insurance. He applied for cover but got turned down, time and time again because of his health. So Abe looked for help.

He found it at Taiwhenua o Heretaunga health centre.

There he was checked and was given a programme which included a commitment to healthy activity and healthy eating; playing regular basketball, watching what he ate, cutting out late-night snacking.

'Since doing that I've got better, to the point where I now have some life insurance'.

Now I go to the doctor regularly for heart checks. It's something you have to do to make sure you are still around for your family.