No one should fight cancer alone. Anyone can be impacted by cancer be it as a patient, survivor, family member or caregiver. Here we have two inspiring stories of Singaporeans who had personal experiences going the battle against cancer in their respective roles.
May Chen, runs for her sister: “They are not alone, we are fighting cancer together with them!”
3 years ago, May’s sister was diagnosed with Stage 3 stomach cancer and had to remove her whole stomach. This period of treatment and recovery was a difficult time for the whole family and spurred May, an avid runner, to join the SCS Race Against Cancer in 2013 to raise awareness and funds to help others who have cancer. Her sister has recently relapsed with cancer and had her ovaries and uterus removed and will be undergoing chemotherapy treatment in the coming weeks and months. As a visible show of support to her sister, and to highlight the realities of cancer, May will be running the SCS RAC 2015 in September and hopes that her sister will recover by then.
Eugene Aw, charity athlete: “Run along with me, in making your steps count for those in the cancer journey”
Eugene first got in touch with the Singapore Cancer Society when he ran his first Race Against Cancer in 2013. As a caregiver of his mother who had won the battle over breast cancer, he became a SCS Charity Athlete to raise awareness and funds for the cancer cause. Since then, he has participated in 13 different races, clocked over 500km, and raised close to $2,000 in the fight against cancer. While most athletes typically use medals as a measure of their progress, as a charity athlete, Eugene determines his success by the amount of a difference he has made in the lives of cancer patients and their families. In addition, Eugene actively finds opportunities to share with his friends and colleagues about how SCS is working to minimise cancer, maximise life, how his runs contribute to this effort and regularly keeps up with other charity athletes to stay focused and motivated.
