Comedian Dai Henwood has thanked New Zealanders for their outpouring of love after he revealed he had stage 4 bowel cancer.
In January, Henwood revealed he had been diagnosed almost three years ago and had gone through multiple rounds of chemotherapy, had high-dose radiation, three lung surgeries, and had parts of his liver and bowel removed.
In an exclusive interview with The Project in January, he told Jaquie Brown he made a conscious decision not to suffer or see his having cancer as unfair.
"The universe doesn't have fair and unfair - it has events. And how you respond to the event defines you, not the event," he said.
"Cancer doesn't define me. How I respond to it defines me."
On Tuesday, he revisited The Project for the first time since going public with his diagnosis. He said revealing he had cancer was the heaviest thing he's had to tell the public.
"I was very nervous about it, how it would be received. I then just had this overwhelming sense of calm," he told The Project.
But "just getting it out there" made him feel good, he said.
"The outpouring of love from New Zealand has given me so much faith in humanity. So I just want to say thank you to everyone out there who sent me messages, people who have sent me tips or jokes or good vibes. I've felt pretty blessed to be a New Zealander."
In his January interview, Henwood said after his chemotherapy and other treatments things had begun to look better. But then it spread to his lungs and lymph nodes and his oncologist told him his cancer is incurable.
Henwood said he still finds humour in the moments where emotions wash up and slam into him.
"I found myself crying to a Goo Goo Doll's song. That's how weird this is. I can't stand the Goo Goo Dolls. How's this even in my headphones?"
Watch the video above.
