National Cancer Awareness Day 2019: A celebration of life by children who beat cancer

National Cancer Awareness Day 2019: When a child has cancer, the entire family reorients their life around getting him or her healthy again.

When a child has cancer, the entire family reorients their life around getting him or her healthy again. This means many appointments at the cancer centre, medications to manage, schedules to adjust, and thinking no further than the next medical appointment.

Unfortunately, while they may defeat the disease, they often continue to be afflicted by social stigma. Celebrating Life, an event recently held in the Capital honoured the never say die spirit of childhood cancer survivors and made an attempt to motivate them to ace other aspects of life.

Dr Gauri Kapoor, paediatric oncologist, said, “It’s our social responsibility to ensure that as these kids grow up, they are guided correctly for their educational, professional, and other social responsibilities. These kids suffer a lot of social stigma, and this programme is a motivational and an inspirational one. We honour these kids today. They are victors in their own right and the last thing they need is sympathy. They want to be treated as equals.”

As a goodwill gesture, he promised annual aid of ₹30 lakh in order to support the underprivileged children, whose families struggle to get them the right treatment.

As the event progressed, survivors excelling in different fields inspired others to meet their full potential. An interactive session by top professional HR executives was held to provide survivors with career guidance.

Shikha Jain, one of the cancer survivors in attendance, has cleared the state civil exam and is currently posted as a treasury officer in Chattisgarh. She said, “A positive mindset makes all the difference.”