FOR Parmod Pal, transporting cancer patients over the past 10 years has been far more than a taxi job — it has meant carrying patients to hospital, helping them out of their homes and staying with them when their families cannot.
The Fiji Cancer Society taxi service provider said the work required patience, compassion and a willingness to be available at all hours.
Many patients live in remote and interior villages where there is little or no mobile network, making it difficult for drivers to locate and reach them.
“They are in the interior, and these are the villages where there is sometimes no network,” he said.
“So, it’s not easy to reach them and bring them to the hospital for their daily check ups.”
Mr Pal said some patients had family members at home, but no one came out to help them get into the vehicle.
Drivers often had to park, walk to the patients’ homes and carry them to the vehicle before taking them to hospital.
He said the job could also mean waiting until late at night when chemotherapy sessions finished after hours.
Despite the challenges, Mr Pal said seeing patients abandoned or unsupported by their families was one of the reasons he continued the work.
“When I see this patient, their background, where they’re coming from, their husband leaves them, their families don’t support them, is what keeps me going and makes me help them in every way possible.”
Patients know they can contact him 24 hours a day, even without phone credit, and he will return their call.
Mr Pal urged families to stand by loved ones battling cancer and called on people to seek medical attention early during Pinktober rather than waiting until symptoms become severe.
