Michael Nkalane
A BLOEMFONTEIN police officer has raised R40 000 for his provincial cancer association after embarking on a month-long 1 000km “Walk for Johlene” from Bloemfontein to Cape Town.
A Dog Unit commander, Deon van der Merwe, 58, left Bloemfontein on March 29 with his friends Anton Crafford, 58, and Willie Swanepoel, 60. They covered a distance of 37km a day in hot, windy, rainy, cold and humid weather.
Yesterday, they arrived in Cape Town to a warm reception. Horses, sniffer dogs and a contingency of police officers marched with them to the police’s Dog Unit in Pinelands.
Van der Merwe said he decided to walk for his late wife Johlene and the Bloemfontein Cancer Association after she died on August 11, 2015 from cancer.
“She was diagnosed in 1984. It started as breast cancer but ended up spreading all over her body, down to the skeleton. I became so affected by it… that my life was literally put on hold as I had to care for her regularly.”
Van der Merwe said after she died he decided to walk for her. “That was how this journey started. But it is no longer walking for Johlene now. I am aiming to raise R100 000 for the Bloemfontein Cancer Association. I want to raise cancer awareness.”
He said although the journey was exhausting, it was worth it. “This is an achievement on its own. People across the country are now aware of the disease. Not to mention those we met along the way. They were hooting, chatting to us and offering accommodation and much-needed donations. This R40 000 that we raised is a lot.”
He said the journey had made him realise the power of social networking.
“We have many followers on our Facebook page we created for this journey, Walk for Johlene.”
He wrote on March 5: “This journey would play an important role in celebrating the beautiful memory of my wife and to raise funds for Cansa Bloemfontein to enable them to continue their support to cancer patients and their loved ones.”