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A 41-year old patient of Stepping Stone Hospice, Nchemty Ozongashu, has returned to his beloved homeland, Cameroon, after spending six weeks in the hospice’s In-patient Unit in New Market Park.

Nchemty, a worker for Green Peace, was diagnosed with Stage 4 lung cancer in January 2018 and after various treatments in Cameroon, he came to South Africa earlier this year to seek treatment and appropriate palliative care.

‘During his stay with us, we got to know a very intelligent man, a humble man with a very strong faith belief,” says Stepping Hospice sister, Margi Bollman.

“Two weeks ago he expressed a wish to return to Cameroon, and we started the planning to get him home. We believed that he was stable enough and after the various doctors who had treated him in South Africa, gave him the clearance to fly, the time came to say goodbye,” Sister Margi explains.

Hlengiwe Dikeledi’s footsteps echo as she leaves the empty 16-bed unit, which closed its doors in July 2017. Bhekisisa reports that she is the palliative care manager at the Soweto hospice. “We had to retrench more than 20 people,” she says, making her way back to her office. “Nurses, cleaners, cooks. Everyone had to go.”

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At least 10 hospices have been forced to shut down their in-patient units over the past two years because of a lack of funding.

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Stepping Stone Hospice and Care Services would like to thank you for your past, present and future support.

A cancer diagnosis doesn’t necessarily mean the end of a road, it can also be the beginning of a whole new journey.

On Friday October 02 October 2020, 28 previously unemployed young people not only graduated as the assistant Home-Based Carer in South Africa, but they made history in becoming the first group of students to ever complete the requirements of the Home Based Personal Care Assistant (NQF2) program.

Stepping Stone Hospice & Care Services recently announced the publication of their first ever Stepping Stone Hospice recipe book, “Meals Make Memories.”

In what can only be described as a heart-breaking family tragedy, Stepping Stone Hospice recently admitted two sisters to its In-Patient Unit, both diagnosed with stage 4 brain cancer. Olinda Brown (65) had been a patient of Stepping Stone Hospice for the most part of the past two years, first diagnosed with breast cancer and later brain cancer in February 2019. Her sister Gorette Cordeiro (59), was diagnosed with cancer in March 2018.

Whilst there is still uncertainty whether the annual 947 Cycle Challenge will take place this year, one of Stepping Stone Hospice’s regular charity team cyclists, Megan Tandy, silently went about trying to raise funds for her beloved charity.

A mere two weeks after being diagnosed with stage 3 lung cancer, the 50-year old Katrien de Beer from Elsburg, Germiston, tested positive for Covid 19. Her journey since the 19th March this year, when she was placed in isolation in the ICU wards in the Netcare Union Hospital where she spent her days and nights on a ventilator, can only be described as severely traumatic.