Josan Sutherland (RPT)

Achieving Dreams Despite Cancer

Josan Sutherland is not shy about her journey with cancer. Neither is she daunted by it. She is beautiful
inside and out, upbeat, cheerful and without fear. Josan was only 11 years old, a grade 7 student when
she injured her ankle and after a series of tests, was diagnosed with bone cancer. Surprisingly, the full
weight of her diagnosis was lost on Josan. Her main questions then were, “why am I not in school?”
When will I be back in school? She was taken to Florida for treatment and it was then that she was
faced with the decision of either having the bone removed from her leg or amputation. Josan says
removing her leg sounded simpler so she chose that option. She received a below the knee amputation
and returned home to Jamaica and in her own words, “That’s when it became difficult” and she began
to understand what cancer really meant. She felt truly sick and had to be hospitalized for up to 5 days
between chemotherapy treatments. However, she soldiered through, got her prosthesis, learnt to walk
and headed back to school.

When she arrived at school, wearing a wig and prosthesis, her class mates who had not seen her during
her illness were especially kind, and helpful. This special treatment did not last long though, because,
after seeing Josan‘s spirit of resilience they soon accepted that she was the same girl. Josan successfully
completed her studies and received several awards for academic excellence. She moved onto the
University of the West Indies and embarked on a Bachelor of Science degree in Physiotherapy.

Josan was in her third year at University when she was again diagnosed with cancer; this time breast
cancer. She had double bilateral mastectomies, took it in stride, did reconstructive surgery,
chemotherapy and returned to University. Today, she is a graduate with honors and is on internship at
one of Jamaica’s premier hospitals. She shares her story to motivate others, giving talks whenever
requested. She has high hopes for the future with plans to focus on oncology rehabilitation, so that she
can bridge the gap which she has identified in her field. She was honoured by the American Cancer
Society as an International Hero of Hope for Jamaica , with a view of motivating others to practice
early detection and screening in the fight against cancer.