Life blooms as positive message rings true

The smile on Lou St George’s face is as bright as the flowers used to celebrate Daffodil Day.

It was a different story in 1999 when the Cooloongup grandfather began to feel unwell.

Within hours of telling his workmates he could not work that day, the otherwise fit and healthy mooring contractor was undergoing major surgery to remove an aggressive form of bowel cancer.

Now, 14 years on, Mr St George said it was a positive attitude and the support of his family that got him through.

“It was so unexpected when it happened to me — I hadn’t been feeling 100 per cent but the doctors couldn’t find anything,” he said.

“That morning, it was a beautiful day and I was on a boat getting ready to go out to work when I just knew that I couldn’t go — my doctor sent me straight to hospital.”

So serious was his condition, he said, doctors told his wife Kez and family that his chances of recovery were slim.

“They didn’t think I was going to make it — and it took about a year after that for them to give me the all clear,” Mr St George said.

“I met this guy while I was having chemo who told me he was going to die, and within a month he did — I think it’s important to never give up hope, although it can be difficult.

This Friday’s Daffodil Day aims to raise $720,000 for cancer research and prevention programs.