"This is a Godsend. Without the Cancer Society being here, most definitely my husband would be back in Eleuthera trying to battle this out from a distance, and perhaps we wouldn’t be looking at this bright outcome we have now - it would be much dimmer,” said a grateful Francis Friend.
She and her husband Walcot Friend had been married for 40 years when he was diagnosed with rectal cancer this April. In the short time since, he has already undergone 18 rounds of radiation.
“When my husband came to Nassau, there were no beds available at PMH. Even the theatre wasn’t available for the urgent surgery that he needed. The doctor looked at me and said, ‘Mrs. Friend, your husband needs to have this surgery like tonight, and the only option is Doctor’s Hospital.’ And of course without insurance that’s a costly venture.”
Despite their financial struggle, Francis and her husband survived what she called her “Job experience” with assistance from the Cancer Society of The Bahamas, which receives crucial funding from CIBC FirstCaribbean’s annual Walk for the Cure campaign.
“I asked God, ‘Is this my Job experience – are you testing my faith?’” Mrs. Friend said. “The Cancer Society was a Godsend. It’s relieved a lot of emotional and financial stress, and I’m able to just be the caregiver to my husband that he needs. There’s no worry here – it’s a home away from home. Everything is easy-going and all of the staff is amazing. We’ve come here and we’ve been welcomed like family. Everything you need is here, and it’s all provided for free.”
Mr. Friend was hospitalized for five days after his initial surgery, and since then the Cancer Society has provided a warm, stable environment conducive to the patient’s recovery whenever necessary. The organization assists in both treatment and financing for Mr. Friend, as they do with countless other Family Island residents who have been diagnosed with cancer and must seek treatment in New Providence.
“He is emotionally stable due to this environment, because he feels like he’s at home. It’s like the Garden of Eden. That’s why it’s so important for this facility to be here. Once you leave home you’re not really prepared financially or emotionally to be in a hotel or even with relatives at times, because there are times when you want to be by yourself. I can’t express how important this place is for people from the Family Islands. Even if you stay with relatives, you have to bear in mind that often they’re working people, so sometimes it’s difficult for them to leave work, take you to your appointment, or assist you with going to the bank or the grocery store. All of that is provided here free of charge,” Francis said.
Mrs. Friend said of her husband and his experience, “He is a man of God, and he’s very positive all the time. He was physically fit when all of this came about and I thank God for that, because his body has been able to sustain him through this. I’d like us as Bahamians to consider our health. We need to be physically fit, so when cancers or other illnesses attack us, we’re able to fight them off with a positive outlook and mind-set. It’s been trying at times, because my husband is 80, and he’s now suffering from slight dementia as well as going deaf in one ear, but I’ve learned over the years to be patient with people. My mom is also 86 and has one leg, so I’ve been through a lot with her, and God prepares you for whatever you’re going to face.
“My journey has always been in taking care of the elderly, so I think I’m more prepared than most to deal with what we’re going through now. I think God has prepared me well.”
CIBC FirstCaribbean’s Walk for the Cure will take place on Saturday, October 6 in Nassau, Grand Bahama, Abaco and Eleuthera. Proceeds will once again go to various cancer organizations throughout the country, including the Cancer Society of The Bahamas.
To register or donate, email WalkForTheCureBAH@cibcfcib.com or contact Walk Manager Nikia Christie at 302-6063.
Francis Friend went through what she called her “Job experience” when her husband was diagnosed with cancer in April. She describes The Cancer Society – beneficiary of CIBC FirstCaribbean’s annual Walk for the Cure campaign – as a “Godsend” for the service they provide in offering treatment and housing facilities for cancer patients from the Family Islands.
Francis Friend has a kindred spirit in Mrs. Williams (left), whose husband is also fighting cancer. “Here at The Cancer Society, we’ve become a family,” Friend said. CIBC FirstCaribbean’s Walk for the Cure campaign provides funds for cancer support groups and treatment facilities like the Cancer Society of The Bahamas – a haven for cancer patients from the Family Islands.
About CIBC FirstCaribbean CIBC FirstCaribbean is a relationship bank offering a full range of market leading financial services through our Corporate and Investment Banking, Retail and Business Banking and Wealth Management segments. We are located in seventeen (17) countries around the Caribbean, providing the banking services that fit our customers’ lives through approximately 3,000 employees in 68 branches and offices. We are one of the largest regionally listed financial services institutions in the English and Dutch speaking Caribbean, with over US$12 billion in assets and market capitalization of US $2 billion. We also have an office in Hong Kong. The face of banking is changing throughout the world and CIBC FirstCaribbean intends to lead these changes with the expertise, integrity and knowledge gained from banking in the Caribbean since 1836.
CIBC FirstCaribbean is a member of the CIBC Group. CIBC is a leading Canadian-based global financial institution with 11 million personal banking and business clients. Through our three major business units - Retail and Business Banking, Wealth Management and Capital Markets - CIBC offers a full range of products and services through its comprehensive electronic banking network, branches and offices across Canada with offices in the United States and around the world.
