A story of grief and compassion
FORMER Daily Dispatch journalist Vuyani Green, currently working as an SABC correspondent in parliament, has written a book which centres on a village near Queenstown, The Road to Thornhill.
Green said the village had sentimental value as it was where he met his late wife, Pinky, for the first time.
The book explores themes of Green’s childhood as a boy in the village, the loss of his cousin during the collapse of the Synagogue of All Nations in Nigeria in 2014, along with the courageous spirit of his wife while battling with cancer.
Green’s wife, who was diagnosed with blood cancer or acute lymphoid leukaemia died after efforts to find a bone marrow match for a transplant failed.
“The family did not match and neither did I. The only person who came close was her sister but doctors said it would be a huge risk.”
Advice by her oncologist that she should find a match within her ethnic group to allow an easier match also failed as there were no black donors able to assist.
“The book was motivated by my desire to raise awareness within the black population to avail themselves for donating organs and blood in order to save lives.”
He said the book was also meant to offer consolation to those who had suffered the loss of a loved one and were finding it hard to come to terms with the grief. Green said some of the proceeds of the sale of his book would go to the Sunflower Fund which supports cancer patients and encourages bone marrow donations. The Sunflower Fund was started by Tina Botha, the mother of Chris Botha, 17, whose story of courage in the fight against cancer made news headlines in the late 1990s. Chris died in 2000.
“My wife’s ward at the Medi Clinic was called the Sunflower Ward, which was named by the parents of the boy (Chris) who used to love drawing sunflowers before losing his life to leukaemia.”
Green advised people to find out more about transplants, referring them to the South African bone marrow registry website for more information on transplants and stem cell donations.
Green said the public’s response to the book had been phenomenal.
“Some copies were requested from the United States of America. I am currently negotiating to get my book placed in national book stores.”
The book is available to locals through Green’s brother, Mxolisi Green who can be reached on 072-949 5273 or email to vuyanig@icloud.com