East London mom with stage 4 cancer beats coronavirus

Three weeks ago, East London mom Cheree Mc Ewen was told that she'd contracted Covid-19  while undergoing surgery to remove more than 20 tumours from her body at Mediclinic Morningside.

The hospital was later closed after 88 people there tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

Mc Ewen initially tested negative but a second test a few days later, results of which DispatchLIVE has seen, indicated that she had contracted the disease.

At the time, and still weak from the massive invasive surgeries, Mc Ewen told DispatchLIVE: “I’ll kick Covid-19’s butt, just like I’m going to kick cancer’s butt. Because I’m a mom, and that’s what we do. We don’t give up! We fight until our last breath. I have my son’s, my precious boys, to live for.” 

Last weekend staff at St Dominic's Hospital in East London gave her the good news that she was asymptomatic. The mother-of-two then spent an additional week in self isolation and, after being confirmed as virus free, the health department removed her from Buffalo City Metro's list of active cases.

In an exclusive interview with DispatchLIVE, Mc Ewen said that St Dominic's Hospital and its doctors, nurses and emergency staff had been amazing, especially since they'd also needed to continually change her dressings from her recent operations.

Mc Ewen said she was grateful to her ex husband, Mark Mc Ewen, for being there for their two boys.

She also thanked all those who have supported her throughout her journey, including various family members, friends, doctors and nurses and a myriad of  people who she had engaged with on social media and who had come together to help her in various ways.

Mc Ewen on Saturday travelled to Komani to finally be reunited with her family.

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