Story of a survivor

AS personal memoirs go,

Beverly Chetty’s The Bounce Back simultaneously drains and enriches. The courageous Chatsworth mother is a marvel in the annals of hope and faith. Diagnosed twice with cancer, first as a young woman on the eve of marriage and later in life, she relates her story with verve and vigour.

That story also weaves the deep emotion, torment and relentless prayer of an immediate and wider circle of family and well-wishers. The free-flowing narrative was crafted with the help of biographer Cyril Palany.

The book reads as a testament to love. Prominent throughout the telling is Beverly’s rock-steady bond with her husband Melvin through 25 testing years.

“Your life’s journey in this book will be told across the world, and many lives will be touched and changed,” says Melvin.

Daughters Melissa and Bianca recall: “We remember our dad sitting us down at 2am breaking the news to us that mom had a brain tumour… Many can offer comforting words, but they may not understand the pain that daughters go through when their mom is diagnosed with a brain tumour.”

The children themselves are a miracle; it was believed that Beverly would not be able to conceive because of her medical condition.

After a healthy childhood in Wentworth, Clairwood and later Chatsworth, persistent and unexplained headaches ignited the first spark of concern.

A local GP recommended a lumbar puncture as he suspected viral meningitis. A CT scan at

RK Khan Hospital revealed an accumulation of fluid in the brain known as hydrocephalus. The standard medical intervention was a ventriculoperitoneal shunt to relieve pressure on the brain, but other neurological complications arose.

A growing, potentially crippling tumour was found, necessitating a craniotomy, in which an area of bone is cut from the skull so that the surgeon can reach the brain.

After the successful surgery, Beverly’s mother, Gloria, “could not recognise (her) once effervescent and cheerful daughter”.

The family was devastated when tests revealed the tumour was an extremely rare medulloblastoma, necessitating six months of radiation followed by chemotherapy.

Beverly’s condition “might have affected her brain, but it certainly did not affect her vision and unrelenting hope”.

The book is available at today’s Durban Book Fair at Mitchell Park which runs until 3pm.