Samantha Pillay is a cancer survivor. This month marks three years of her being in remission.
Her initial diagnosis left her feeling strange.
“I climbed Kilimanjaro in 2016 because it was my 10th year of living with lupus and I had no symptoms until just before I went to the doctor. I just had a bit of hot flushes and went for my colonoscopy and they found cancer there. Just like that,” she said.
She said the surgery was a huge procedure, with doctors having to take out the right side of her colon, her appendix and eight lymph nodes.
“I am very lucky to be alive.”
Pillay, a mother of five, is part of a support group with other people affected by cancer.
Samantha Pillay was diagnosed with colon cancer in 2016. She is now in remission.
One of the people is Lee-Ann Govender who lost her five-year-old daughter Shanaya in May to Ewing's sarcoma.
“When it affects you, it touches you more. I followed Lee-Ann daughter's story on Facebook. I felt strength, if a little girl could go through so much, then who was I (not to),” Pillay said.
She says she wants people to make sure they do not ignore the symptoms.
“Today you will think it is the flu but it is not, so investigate the symptoms that you or your kids have. You have to understand what your body is going through and join a support group,” she says.
Govender's daughter was diagnosed with Ewing's sarcoma, a rare form of cancer usually found in white teenage boys.
“Honestly, neither my son, husband nor I have adjusted. Most times we feel like we are living in a bad nightmare and will wake up to Shanaya being in our arms.
"We went from having a completely healthy beautiful little girl to her being misdiagnosed for 6 months, then diagnosed with a rare form of cancer, her left arm being amputated, she then relapsed shortly after her amputation and died 10 months after her relapse.”
She says without their little "Shanaya the First" (she always wore a tiara and a princess dress) their world has no colour.
“Our home has turned into a house, our family chain was robbed of a link. Nothing prepares any parent or sibling for that journey, let alone dealing with helplessly watching your child or sibling die. I gave birth to her yet I had to unwillingly watch her take her last breath in my arms.”
Govender said she wanted Shanaya's legacy to inspire families affected by terminal illness to fight as a family.
“Don't allow an illness to consume your lives that you forget to live your lives. Be brave and experience the beauty this world has to offer. Be strong and make memories together.
"South African data suggests that only half of children with cancer are ever diagnosed, with the rest never getting a chance at any form of treatment.
"We desperately need awareness. Awareness can get us much-needed funding for research. Research is the only way to find a cure. If our children are supposed to be the future, why aren't we fighting for them to live their future.”