Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, on Tuesday gave a chilling account of how he contracted prostate cancer last December and got cured of it in October 2014.
Soyinka disclosed this on Tuesday at the June 12 Cultural Centre, Kuto, Abeokuta, while addressing journalists at a press conference tagged ‘Beyond Ebola and Beyond reign of the Silent Killer,’ which was meant to create awareness on cancer.
Though he neither gave details of where and how he got cured, he described the ailment as a ‘nuisance which must be got rid of.’
The literary icon said having got cured of the disease, he decided to make his health status public so as to encourage cancer victims to go for medical treatment.
Soyinka also noted that cancer should not be regarded as a death sentence.
He said, “In December last year, I discovered that I had cancer, we were making sure that, that was what it was before going for other tests. And once it was established that I did have cancer and I was sure because in my family we had an uncle, at the time he died, we did not have all the sophisticated ways of knowing how he died.
“What killed him was attributed to a lot of things. From the little things I know about cancer, I came to a conclusion that he died of cancer, maybe we have it in our family.”
Soyinka said as a private person he would have been silent on it, but he decided to make it public being a member of the Africa Cancer Centre.
He said, “For me, it is not a decision that I am happy with, but I felt I have an obligation being a member of the Africa Cancer Centre and also having donated during the festival of fund raising for cancer, I felt I owe people an obligation to make it known and also to demystify cancer, many people feel it’s death sentence. Family, friends and colleagues begin to look at you as if you are a ghost, just because you have cancer.”
Encouraging cancer patients, Soyinka said that they should know that cancer affliction should not be seen as a death sentence.
“No, cancer is not a death sentence, it is curable and I have undergone treatment and I am able to tell you that I even have a medal to show for it,” he said.
Soyinka, who said he was okay, appealed to Nigerians who have his kind of case to go for test within the available facilities in the country.
God Bless You. Follow us on Twitter: @folabright BB PIN 29CA0A02 http://pin.bbm.com/C0036FFAD Be prepared!!! Click Share button to help us share this information on Twitter, facebook, google e.t.c. for SHARING IS CARING. Thanks
0 comments:
Post a Comment