Cancer survivor offers practical support through her organisation

A story of courage and triumph as a cancer survivor aims to restore hope and bring about change in the cancer community.

Maggie du Plooy was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1994 and said that it was a terrible experience when she received the devastating news. She had to undergo 35 radiations and 11 months of chemotherapy. She said that she had lost two sisters to cancer and remains passionate about advocating for the subject.

She left her permanent full-time job and started a flower shop and has now been retired for four years but volunteers her services in a bid to help others experiencing this disease.

“If it was not for the help and support from my friends and family throughout the days when I felt sick, I would not have been here today,” she said.

She now helps other people through her work for Reach for Recovery, an NPO based in the West Rand region which has about 15 volunteers who visit hospitals and homes to not only raise awareness but to educate and inform patients about the disease.

The NPO, which was founded in 1953, offers personal support and aims to provide resources to people living with cancer – from diagnoses throughout the therapy process.

“We are contacted by hospitals, have online volunteers to know where to go to offer our services, allocate resources such as self-help booklets and fliers, and visit patients from referrals after operations. We generally provide practical support and offer prosthesis and underarm cushions for post-ops,” she said.

Reach for Recovery also offers emotional peer-to-peer support and services to breast cancer survivors whom they have identified through their projects.

“We intend our support to enable you to make relevant personal decisions and to find the motivation for recovery from breast cancer with an optimal quality of life. Our programme, with its carefully chosen, well-trained volunteers, is approved by the medical profession and promoted by cancer societies worldwide,” she said.