Whatshot
Act now - there's no time for denial
Act now - there's no time for denial
Le Clos may be the father of one of the world's fastest swimmers, but he is the first to admit that making big life decisions of his own can take 'much longer than they should'.
The day that Chad le Clos beat US superstar Michael Phelps in the 200m butterfly at the 2012 Olympic Games in London, Bert's excitement was captured on video, and he instantly became South Africa's favourite dad.
It was 2 years ago that Bert was first diagnosed with prostate cancer but he did not do anything about it.
"I was in denial," he said. "I didn't want to think about it. I didn't want to be exposed to the treatment."
Then, earlier this year, his wife Geraldine was diagnosed with cancer and had to have a double mastectomy.
"It was a wake-up call for me. When I went to the oncologist with my wife, and I asked him what I should do. He told me if I stayed in denial, the cancer would move out of my prostate and it would kill me.
"Then, a couple of weeks later, I was in Port Elizabeth with my younger son and a guy came and said hello to me. I didn't recognise him, and the reason was that he is now riddled with cancer. It has gone to his bones. That really shocked me into action, and I decided that I must have the cancer removed," he said.
Because of Chad's connections all over the world, Bert first went to a professor in Marseilles in France, but he was referred back to a Cape Town doctor who removed the cancer.
"The bottom line is that you must get tested, and you must take action. Don't be like me and delay! I'm just lucky that it didn't kill me."
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