Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 61, August 2014 | Page 21

November. Suddenly I found myself sitting with her kids, aged 13 and
eight, confronted by surviving while she went. Cancer really makes
you value life, specifically your quality time with your family.”
With his cancer in remission, Donovan returned to work and began
running again, rapidly getting back to 33 minutes for 10km form,
and says he even told his CEO in March that everything was back
on track… but a week later a gland under his jaw swelled up and he
knew the cancer was back. He was now diagnosed with Anaplastic
large-cell lymphoma (ALCL), one of the rarest and most aggressive
cancers, which has a survival prognosis of just 30% in stage one,
which comes down to 20% in stage two and then 10% in stage
three, and Donovan says that nobody has ever survived stage four.
And yet this incredible man stays positive: “I am going to be the one
who changes that statistic. I might not have hair, but I still have my
fighting spirit!”

“I might not have hair, but I still have
my fighting spirit!”

Earlier this year
Donovan appeared to
be on the mend, but
it was not to last...

“My cancer always reminds me of my 1997 Comrades run. I had
finished tenth in 1996, so I went out to win it the following year,
but I blew badly, then had to pick myself up and try to finish. I
learnt that day that when you run Comrades, you run 1km at a
time, and hang in there… Do that and you will finish. I have taken
that lesson into my fight against cancer, taking it one day at a
time, and no matter what, I am going to hang in there.” And even
now, Donovan’s irrepressible sense of humour continues to shine
through. “I have also told my sons I will double their pocket money
if they get their girlfriends pregnant, because I can’t wait to coach
my grandchildren!”

Proud dad and coach of Lando, Decland and Shadrack Hoff.

SHOCK TO THE SYSTEM
What does get to him sometimes is that this latest bout of cancer hit him
just as he thought he had outrun his health problems. “I had finished all
my chemo and returned to work, the scans showed the cancer was in
remission, then suddenly, when I least expected it, the cancer was back,
and in a much more aggressive form, too. The doctors try to control T-cell
cancer with chemo, but when it comes back, it comes back stronger, so
now the doctors are looking at doing a stem cell transplant.”
Donovan says that the best option would be to receive a transplant from
a donor, but since he has no direct siblings, only half-brothers, who like
his children are only a 50% match, he is waiting to see if a donor with a
100% match can be found. “If no donor can be found, they will have to
remove, wash and put my own stem cells back, but first they have to wipe
out my immune system. Then the stem cells should hopefully attack the
cancer cells.”

NEXT GENERATION
One thing that gives Donovan huge solace is watching his boys grow up,
and while all are talented runners, a particular highlight of the last few
months has been Decland’s incredible feats on the track. “It was terrible
having to tell my 10-year-old son the cancer was back, but then he goes
out to win an SA Schools Champs title for me, then runs a World Record
for 1000m by a 10-year-old a month later, followed by two more world
records after that. His 17:06 for 5000m is even more special because it
broke the 31-year-old World Record set by Shadrack Hoff, who paced
him to the record, so I can say I coached the two fastest 5000m runners
in SA. I can’t even describe how intensely proud of Decland I am. He is
so mature for his age and so disciplined, and I think he can get to the
Olympic Games in 2024 – and cancer will not stop me from seeing that!”

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