A DURBAN North cancer survivor, Bala Gangiah, has completed yet another charity walk, all in the name of raising funds for the Chatsworth Hospice.
Gangiah was diagnosed with cancer in 2018, after doctors found tumors in both his kidneys. One of them was malignant, and his kidney had to removed.
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He climbed Kilimanjaro after surgery and walked 575kms in India, raising R550 000, also for Chatsworth Hospice, in 2019. He called the initiative the Walk of Life, and the name has stuck.
“After Covid hit, there wasn’t much I could do to fundraise so I put that on ice. Now that restrictions have eased, I thought this would be the perfect time to complete another fundraising walk,” said Gangiah.
Being a man who loves challenges, he thought 21kms, a half-marathon, would be apt. Then, to make it more exciting, he decided to walk this distance every day for 21 days.
The venue was the Durban beachfront, and Gangiah says he could not have chosen a more scenic route.
“Initially, I was going to do this alone, but I had three other people join in with the intention of only trying it out at first. They were hooked and found themselves completing the challenge with me,” he said.
Gangiah and his mates started the walk on June 19 and finished on July 9.
He was joined by Kumar Gounder, a 73-year-old who underwent two bypass surgeries, and Steve and Nyanum Chocolingam who are 74 and 72 respectively.
“Come rain, wind or shine, we were there to complete the challenge. We also supported the local beachfront shops and restaurants by having breakfast and purchasing beverages,” said Gangiah.
“The thing about a challenge is that you don’t really know if you’ll finish or not. We started at 05:00 and finished at 09.30,” he added.
He said the support they gained through social media, family and friends was outstanding.
“At the end, we were joined by so many people. We started out as four, but on the last day, 80 people walked with us,” said the cancer survivor.
He raised a total of R125 000 for the organisation.
