How a Hong Kong cancer sufferer keeps going – and helps others to do the same
Diagnosed with a rare and lethal form of skin cancer at birth, William Chan has defied the odds with wit and a positive attitude, and, through his NGO Say Yeah, helps fellow Hongkongers in need of support
Constant pain and daily discrimination take their toll, but cancer sufferer William Chan Wai-lam embraces life, and death, with a dark sense of humour.
Defying the odds of long-term survival after being born with a rare skin cancer, 35-year-old Chan now has hundreds of black moles covering his face and body. His condition progresses as he ages, he says. “One day I could be a black person, if I am still alive. Yo man!” he shouts, waving his hands in the style of a rapper.
The incidence of non-melanoma skin cancer is rising in Hong Kong, up 65 per cent from 2005 to 2014, from 569 cases to 941 cases. The type of melanoma Chan has is rarer, with 78 new cases in 2014, and more lethal.
His first doctor told his family he would not live beyond age three, then seven, then 11. “How can a doctor be wrong about my death so many times?” asks Chan, who rejected chemotherapy treatment.
Chan, who staged his own “living funeral” five years ago, says cancer patients should not blindly accept advice from doctors. “No one knows how long or short you will live,” he says. “You can control your life, your body, your mind, and you can control your doctor – and tell him to shut up.”