Charis Pretorius (42) has had a long journey with cancer. Diagnosed with breast cancer at age 26, and again in subsequent years, she is currently battling with spinal malignant melanoma.
Pretorius lost her mother to the cancer of the bladder and her first diagnosis followed three years later. Having first been diagnosed when her daughter was five years old and again when her son was three years old, brought home to her how deadly cancer is.
Pretorius says, “Now I had a three-year-old son too. So my mortality and chemotherapy nearly caused my death, but I hung in there due mainly to an amazing support system.”
“I lost my hair and that stole something from me, but I bounced back because of the support I received from CANSA.”
“They provided me with an outlet in the form of group therapy and I started working with them on an ad hoc basis.”
The most common cancers prevalent among South African women are; Breast cancer, cervical cancer, colorectal cancer and Kaposi Sarcoma with one in nine women affected.
Crisp Kitchen, where Pretorius is employed as an events co-ordinator, will be hosting a ‘Fight like a Girl’ cancer awareness event on October 29 to raise awareness about the disease.
Charis Pretorius can be viewed in the video below relating her ordeal with cancer.
Tickets cost R200 and the event will start at 7pm to 11pm. Cancer survivors will share their personal experiences with the disease and attendees will be entertained by a number of performers.
Also Read: A story of a mother and daughter’s battle with cancer
