No bailout for cancer victims

Andries du Preez, Tenae Marriot, Charlene Beech and I sat in a Kia Sportage sponsored by Eastvaal Motors for 48 hours in Highveld Mall last weekend from Friday, March 20 to Sunday, March 22 to raise money and awareness for CANSA. The project was called CANSA/KIA Car Sit-in 2015.

When I was asked a few weeks ago to be part of the CANSA car-sit-in I immediately said; ‘yes’. I didn’t know any of the logistics, I didn’t know when or with whom I’d be sitting in a car for 48 hours. I agreed to it because I knew it was for a good cause and that was enough for me.
The weeks passed and the more articles about it were printed in the paper, the more I came to realise I had no idea what to expect. I think it is the same for cancer patients. You know what’s coming and you know what’s going to happen, yet you can’t turn back and you have no idea what you are going to do to prepare for it. In fact there is no way to prepare for it, the information gets dropped on you and you just deal with it.
The day before we were meant to climb in the car my WITBANK NEWS family surprised me with a ‘goodie bag’ filled with treats, drinks, slippers, wet wipes, a colouring book, pain pills and a personal inspirational message from each, I almost burst into tears. It meant so much to me that I had so much support behind me. That’s when it hit me, they were more prepared than I was.

I tried to Google a survival kit for being stranded in a car but no such luck, well not a kit that would fit my needs anyway. So I decided to sit back and figure out what my personal needs would be for the next 48 hours. It turned out the packing was not difficult. Once the packing was done I left for the Mall and then it really hit me.
For the next 48 hours I’ll be stuck in a car with three other individuals I don’t know. I won’t be able to leave unless it’s my 10 minutes allotted time every four hours.
To be honest I was really afraid that I wouldn’t get along with my three car mates, I was really scared that the situation might get too much and I would not be able to last the 48 hours and be a total failure and let everyone down. On my way into the car I started getting a spasm in my back and I had scratchy eyes that would not stop tearing.

I decided that no matter how my body feels, I’m climbing in this car and finishing it no matter what.
At 14:00 we started taking photos, Henry Gouws, Andries du Preez, Tenae Marriot and myself, then climbed in the car, I tweeted, we chatted and smooch spoiled us, our first jailer joined us and he made a whopping R4 000 bail. One of the first questions I asked Andries was, why the sit-in was specifically 48 hours. He answered that living in a car, becomes very uncomfortable and tiring on the body and that is where the mind has to play a big role and has to be switched over to positive thinking.

He explained it is for the soul to realise that you as a person have to make the best of the situation no matter the circumstances. He continued to say 48 hours is only a tip of what a cancer patient undergoes through the disease and chemotherapy. He said though 48 hours does not sound long, to the mind, body and soul it can be draining and it takes a lot to stay positive and in good spirit as soon as the body starts aching. After our first jailer made bail, our second jailer Cindy Marriot, who had no idea she was being arrested, had to join the sit-in. Henry had to pay bail so that he could leave the car due to having prior arrangements. Miss Greater Witbank Charlene Beech then joined us and our group was complete. The first four hours flew by and before we knew it we had another jailer, this time from the Witbank 911 team. He sold biscuits to make his bail money and all through the night Witbank 911 ensured there were jailers to raise money. At around 19:00 all my electronics were drained and I had to rely on a power pack, which did not last long. That was one of the first hurdles I had to overcome, dealing with frustration when I could not do my job.

I then decided to get to know my car mates and at the same time introduce them to our community. I had an interview with each of them and posted their questionnaires online.
Our spirits were high and it turned out I was ‘stuck’ in a car with three really amazing individuals each with beautiful personalities and big hearts, all of us from different walks of life. I now refer to them as ‘queens’ not because of their titles but because who they are and they are such an inspiration. It was a funny realisation I was so afraid of not having anything in common with them due to them being part of the pageant world, but the more I got to know them the closer I grew to them and as Andries said “we all have an invisible crown, we just need to learn to wear them with pride.”

Falling asleep was really difficult Friday evening, News Café closed late, Spur left their music on and all the lights were on in the Mall. At 03:00 I tweeted “the mall is really noisy this time of the morning.”
Andries and I just couldn’t fall asleep, Tenae took the boot, Charlene was lightly snoozing on the front seat and Andries and I were walking zombies. Eventually we fell asleep but having to wake up before the mall staff started arriving, so that we could look semi-presentable for the next batch of jailers was a huge battle and my second hurdle as my mornings usually do not start without a cup of tea. To my surprise when I came out of the ladies room after freshening up Andries had ordered us drinks from Mugg and Bean and at least my morning could then start semi normal.

To be honest Saturday was a blur. Our spirits were low, we were tired, our bodies ached all over and there was a constant throng of people. Saturday also came with extra struggle as my internet wouldn’t work, the Mall didn’t have Wi-Fi and Cindy Marriot (Tenae’s mother) had to bring me a portable Wi-Fi device, I then realised for every hurdle there was a solution. Saturday evening could not end fast enough we were all so drained we did not even see midnight. I have to admit though during those trying moments I have to give a special thanks to my friends, family and community members for popping in and whispering words of motivation, my hubby who popped in as often as possible always coming in to check if I needed anything and I really appreciated it if it weren’t for all of you supporting me I don’t know if I would have made Saturday.

The ladies of Witbank 911, Tara Bowen and Joss Schonefeld, you ladies were amazing you were there every morning bright and early forever pushing for donations and without you raising R10 000 on your own our sit-in would never have been so successful.
Sunday morning our spirits got a second breath and we were in it to make it a grand finale, all bets were off I pushed messages all over social media for our community to come in and support us on the last day, and everyone really pulled through. As we did the countdown for the last 10 minutes we were really excited to be able to go home and already dreaming of a hot bubble bath and to sleep in a comfy bed. I made the comment to my car mates that if someone had to donate R10 000 we would have to sit another 24 hours, to be honest they were not impressed with me.

When the final 60 seconds passed we were beyond relieved that we could leave the car for more than 10 minutes.
Andries announced that the very first car sit in was a huge success and a staggering amount of R25 000 was raised by the ‘car mates’ and the jailers. I was absolutely thrilled that the sit-in was such a huge success.
Andries described his weekend;

“I experienced light Cabin fever within the first 24 hours purely to the lack of sleep, but coped with it. Reaching the 45 hour mark I was ready to walk out and step away as my body was in pain and drained. But I have bonded and friendships were made in this project, friendships that I will cherish forever.”

At the end of the 48 hours when I got home and had a hot shower and I was lying on my comfy bed I came to this conclusion my fears were totally unnecessary and I realised how strong a support team I had behind me. I realised when a person finds out they have cancer they can’t just pay a bail and it is over. I realised in those final moments before falling into a deep sleep that although we are not immune to cancer, we can beat those difficult times as long as we have loved ones and a support team without fail that is willing to fight that battle with us. Andries asked me to please thank the following: Eastvaal Motor City, Witbank News, Highveld Mall and staff, Smooch, News Café, Cappuccino’s, Witbank 911, friends and family / public that supported and encouraged us, my fellow car mates / De-Aan Palmer, Tenae Marriott (Miss World Junior) and Charlene Beech (Miss Greater Witbank), the ‘jailers’ and CANSA Witbank RFL / Community Committee who assisted in this project.

Gallery of #sitin48h

Tweets and updates that were posted during the #sinin48h

Pieter Breedt just donated a R1200 bail for tara and joss they are trying to raise R7000 #sitin48hpic.twitter.com/xRmX6HJCQO

— WITBANK NEWS (@WITBANK_NEWS) March 22, 2015

Dillin Marriot from Cambridge Academy decided to shuffle for CANSA to raise money:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=czxfrcIHulI

Andries du Preez from CANSA Highveld says thank you to our sponsors and supporters:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpQQvVhqYZk