Every week, Sally Brown becomes caregiver to a cancer patient she may not see again. Some don’t say a word to her. Others pour out their hearts. Some share how happy they are with their treatment; others, how cancer has led to depression.
As a volunteer with Road to Recovery program, an American Cancer Society (ACS) initiative, 83-year-old Brown has been giving cancer patients free rides to treatment for more than two decades.
The national transportation program is offered to cancer patients who have no other means of transportation or who are unable to drive themselves to treatment.
Brown is one of more than 800 trained volunteers nationwide who have helped more than 490,000 patients across the country by providing over 9 million rides to and from cancer-related medical appointments.
Brown signed up as a volunteer ACS driver in 1994.
“I liked the flexible timing. You can drive once a week or three times a week,” said Brown.
Brown also happens to be a “lucky cancer patient.” She was diagnosed with breast cancer two years ago. “I didn’t need any radiation or chemotherapy. I got a lumpectomy done,” she said, adding that she was OK the next day.
“Cancer taught me to be more thankful for every day that I have,” she said.
How long does she think she will keep driving?
“I can go on for many years,” Brown said, grinning. “But when you are 85, ACS says that you are done.”
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