“Cancer 1s the demon I love to fight!"

Kim Gillot, 37, shares how her Old Mutual Illness insurance payout helped her get ahead of the unforeseen costs of a severe illness and, instead, gave her peace of mind.

Here's a little something to ponder... When it comes to insurance, most people seem comfortable splurging on entertainment, clothing and food than they are on lifestyle protection policies such as dread disease cover. Often, the thinking is that: "It will never happen to me!" or "I still have time!" However, life-altering illnesses such as cancer, a stroke or heart attack often require that one take time off from regular programming to fully recover.

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This was the case for Kim Gillot, who was unexpectedly diagnosed with stage 2 breast cancer at 32 - without any family history at all. "I discovered a lump after bumping myself in the shower and ignored it as most women do because we often don't want to be inconvenienced by these things," recalls Kim. A week and a half later, she consulted a doctor for food poisoning and insisted on a by-the-way breast exam. When the doctor couldn't pick up the lump via a physical examination, Kim listened to her intuition and insisted on a mammogram. The mammogram results showed an abnormality. Next was a biopsy. "I remember receiving a call on 25 February 2017 confirming that I had aggressive stage 2 hormone-positive breast cancer. My cancer was both oestrogen receptor-positive (ER+) and progesterone receptor-positive (PR+)," shares Kim. She had the tumour removed within a week of her final biopsy and adds that getting the surgery out the way so soon was what ultimately spared her from the aggressive cancer.