Hope, love and a fierce resilience spilled out of Frere Hospital’s C3 ward Friday as Childhood Cancer Foundation South Africa (CHOC) Eastern Cape celebrated each and every child, parent, nurse and doctor in the fight against childhood cancer.
In collaboration with Frere Hospital’s paediatric oncology unit, CHOC launched its newest three-minute music video Friday morning, marking another International Childhood Cancer Day (ICCD) and celebrating CHOC’s 40th anniversary.
“We have a lot to celebrate today. Of course it’s ICCD and CHOC is 40 years old, but our very first CHOC house in East London is also 10 years old today,” said CHOC Eastern Cape’s regional manager, Debbie Kleinenberg.
“Our slogan is ‘Keeping more than hope alive’ and this video is all about the journey from being diagnosed to being a survivor. It’s all about hope.”
The video was filmed at Frere’s paediatric oncology ward, the CHOC house and on the Gonubie beachfront and features an original song, written and composed by Angie Wild Schultz, aunt of six-year-old cancer survivor, Zoë Holloway.
“The core message is that for anyone going through this journey, you don’t have to fight alone and that united we can keep hope alive,” said Schultz.
Bronwyn Holloway, Zoë’s mom, said her entire family played a huge role in the making of the video. “My family have been completely united in this, we’ve all banded together to create this symbol of hope.”
Zoë was diagnosed with leukaemia in 2015 and went through two years of treatments at the hospital.
“It’s been a tough journey, but it’s been a beautiful one too and we have met so many wonderful, caring people.
“To be able to make this video and share Zoë’s journey to create awareness and ignite hope is truly wonderful,” said Holloway.
The video has been shared worldwide on YouTube and, according to Kleinenberg, the goal is to not only spread a message of hope, but also to create awareness throughout South Africa so that the numbers of survivors increase in the country.
“Internationally the survival rate for children with cancer is 80%. In SA it’s only 55% and it drops even lower to about 25-30% in the Eastern Cape,” said Kleinenberg.
“Picking up the early warning signs and early detection increase the chances of survival drastically.”..