KINGSTON, Jamaica – For the Yuletide season, the girl with the white ribbon, Kimberly McCalla’s fervent Christmas wish is to inspire and motivate people with her new book ‘I found the Courage.’

Speaking with OBSERVER ONLINE, the 26-year-old lung cancer patient said even though the book is a memoir detailing her struggles with two chronic illnesses, she wants people going through any kind of hardship to know they can overcome it.

“This book documents my experience with not just one, but two chronic illnesses before 25. That would be epilepsy and lung cancer. In the memoir, it’s not just sharing my experience, but I’m giving people the tools that I have used to overcome a lot of things and how they too can use the tools that I have outlined in the memoir to own their stories,” McCalla said.

The paperback book was launched on December 16 and can be purchased on Amazon at the cost of US$16.99 – a perfect gift for the holidays.

“In Jamaica, I will be personally delivering some, it would be $3,000 for a copy, and if someone wants a signed copy and they’re overseas, it is US$20 and I can ship there,” she disclosed, adding that the book would eventually be available in stores.

Speaking on showcasing her vulnerable side to her readers, McCalla said that was one of the most difficult aspects when writing the book.

“I am very private. I was working on it since 2018 before I found out about the cancer and I was still struggling even then because I am putting myself out there to the world and I didn’t know if I want to be that vulnerable where it is in a permanent [form],” she said.

“But I had to be brave because I know that my assignment is bigger than me. So I just had to share it. And there was no way I could come out and tell persons to be courageous and own who you are when I am not doing that,” she continued.

Additionally, McCalla told the OBSERVER ONLINE that after reading her book, she hopes that people who are hurting can pick themselves back up and become a better version of themselves.

“I do have moments where I feel depressed and one of my major things is to just experience it at the moment. So, if I am going through something where I want to turn off my phone or I want to cry, I allow myself to cry, I allow myself to vent to someone. I just vent and, you know, after a while I kind of feel better. So the biggest thing is you have to go through the process. If you need to cry, cry, if you need to vent, go through the process because when you go through it now, you see that it is just a transformational process.”

McCalla, who was diagnosed with lung cancer in August 2021, added that she had her last epileptic seizure in 2011, and was officially deemed epilepsy free when she was 25, following a C-T scan of her brain.

She recalled being teased by her schoolmates after having two epileptic seizures at school.

“When I look back now I don’t feel so angry, but for a lot of years, even after I graduated high school I was angry because they usually tease me. So, imagine being sick and when you go to school, you have to see all of that. But, I kinda heal myself before I put everything out there. When I look back now, some of those persons who were mean to me, they don’t even remember anything,” McCalla stated.

In May, McCalla was featured in an Observer article seeking assistance from the public to pay for targeted lung cancer treatment costing US$16,000. McCalla was able to raise that amount and she confirmed that she is doing “much better now.”

READ: Kimberley McCalla needs US$16,000 for cancer treatment

“I want everyone who supported me to know that because you guys supported me I was able to start the treatment and feel better in myself where I can do more because chemo was very restricted. But with this targeted therapy now, I am not sick all the time,” she added.

McCalla noted that interested persons can lick on the Amazon link to purchase her book: https://www.amazon.com/Found-COURAGE-Mastering-Overcoming-Obstacles-ebook/dp/B0BPMKHZRJ/