Leukemia survivor uses his second chance at life to help the community around him
Martin has set a few goals for himself for the next five to 10 years.
Many of our readers might have heard the name Martin van der Westhuizen through the grapevine when chatting about local community efforts to improve their suburbs. Little do they know of the great struggles Martin has gone through in his life and how he came to be where he is now.
Martin is a Leukemia survivor and has since dedicated his life to making a difference in his community! The 40-year-old has always been active in the upkeep and improvement of the estate he resides in but has since ventured out to help the community around him as well. Martin was born and raised in Johannesburg, South Africa, and has been living on the West Rand his entire life.
“I attended the Rand Afrikaans University [now known as UJ] and I obtained my BCom in Accounting and my Honours before I started articles with an auditing firm and qualified as a Chartered Accountant,” explained Martin.
“My journey begins late 2019 after our family get-together for the Christmas holidays. We celebrated with family and friends having Christmas lunch at home. A big get-together with my wife’s brother, his wife and daughter joining us from London. While on holiday I observed my first symptom, my right big toe in pain.”
Martin added that although his toe pain was alarming, back home life was back to normal and he continued his daily routine of waking up by 04:30 to go for a five km run at the local gym – he reminisces that this would be the last time he went to the gym for a couple of months…
“I went to my doctor who diagnosed the pain as gout; little would he know I would be back a few days later,” Martin elaborated. “When I returned to my doctor the pain jumped to my legs; my right knee could not bend, and I had a cramp in my right calf. I was given antibiotics and creams to address the issue and returned a few days later to drain fluid on my knee.”
From there he went to see various medical specialists, a Chiropractor, Orthopedic Surgeons, and a Rheumatologist, and even had a knee scope after an MRI indicated a Meniscus Tear in his knee.
“A few days later, on March 15, 2020, I was admitted to the hospital and diagnosed with a pulmonary embolism. I spent a few weeks in the hospital and my attending doctor never seemed to give up on the abnormal blood results. I was referred to a Haematologist on April 1, 2020, and underwent a Bone Marrow Biopsy on the following Friday – I was officially diagnosed with Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) on Monday, April 6, 2020.”
Martin explained that in those first few weeks after the diagnosis, he did not have time to reflect on what was happening. Chemotherapy treatment started the very next day.
“Fortunately, after the first round of chemo they did a biopsy and we found out I was in remission – but due to the type of AML there was an 80% risk of it returning,” Martin exclaimed.
Martin expressed how he felt happy after finding out he had gone into remission, but ‘knew it would be short-lived as it could return at any time’.
Martin has set a few goals for himself for the next five to 10 years.
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“First of all, survive! Second, I would like to create awareness in the community to be placed on the Bone Marrow Register, I also firmly believe that every boom-gate in the area should have advertising on how to become a donor,” he stated. He also mentioned reaching out to schools as one of the many goals he has set.
“I have been given a second chance at life, with this said I have decided to use this opportunity to try and make things better for everyone in my community,” he explained.
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He concluded by giving credit and thanks to the Lord, his wife Jolinda, daughter Anabel, and his son Ruan, as well as the South African Bone Marrow Registry (SABMR), South African National Blood Services, his Donor in Germany as well as all their friends and family.
