INSPIRED by the level of care she received at Spanish Town Hospital as a first-time breast cancer patient at 28 years old, Hilary Williams Nelson wants to deliver the same service now that she’s completed her associate degree in allied health care (geriatrics) at Trench Town Polytechnic College.

Currently battling cancer for the third time — with two recurrences during her two-year tenure at the educational institution — Williams Nelson is grateful to have been among last Wednesday’s graduates.

“I’m very elated to be a part of this, that I have gained strength to do what I wanted to do in spite of all odds and fighting cancer for eight years,” she told the Jamaica Observer.

Now 37 years old, the mother of two boys said, oftentimes, people who are battling illnesses tend to give up.

“I said, ‘I want to be an example. I want to be a mentor — not only a nurse,’ ” a determined Williams Nelson recounted. “I want to give my patients the assurance that they can overcome if their minds are mentally prepared, and with [proper and friendly] service they receive.”

Walking the Sunday Observer through her journey to graduation at the function to celebrate the graduates last Wednesday, Williams Nelson said she found out she had breast cancer after noticing a water pimple on her areola. She said it eventually popped on its own, but then she noticed a discharge from her nipple. That led to the start of her cancer journey, which saw her undergoing a mastectomy, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and then oral therapy for eight years.

“My inspiration was from the services I got as a first-time, cancer-diagnosed patient in 2015. I told myself I would want to give back to my country or to patients in this manner, because oftentimes persons who are sick, they tend to give up; and I said I want to be an example,” she said.

In 2018 Williams Nelson started HEART/NSTA Trust and completed levels two and three, but wanted to attain higher qualifications in nursing and patient care. This was when she learnt about the Allied Health Care (Geriatrics) programme at Trench Town Polytechnic College.

With the help of the administrators at the institution, she was enrolled in the programme.

However, last year October, while pursuing her associate degree, the cancer came back, this time over her sternum. She sought care in the private sector after she experienced delays in the public sector.

“I said, ‘I am not gonna sit and watch this. Warriors don’t wait, because cancer doesn’t rest, and I’m not resting with this. As long as I have the health and the will to fight, I will,’ ” she recounted.

Then earlier this year she ended up having a third surgery after the cancer returned in the area of her shoulder.

Through it all, Williams Nelson kept going. Her drive: “To know that when I beat cancer that I would be employed as a nurse, and that my children and those who are suffering illnesses — not only cancer — will see me as a prime example that sickness is just an obstacle that you must find it within you to fight and to look to the sky and to have greater hopes in yourself.”

She admitted, however, that it has not been easy, but with her community of supporters — group members, teachers, principal, vice-principal, husband, children, and a whole community — she was able to stay the course.

“For those persons out there who want to pursue their dreams: As long as you have mental health it will enhance your physical health, and also support — whether from church, other non-governmental or government groups. And belief in yourself is the most important thing — knowing that you are bigger than your situation, you will become anything you want to be,” said Williams Nelson.

– Additional reporting by Anika Richards