Dr Karen Singh.
When a parent or loved one is diagnosed with cancer, children become silent witnesses to the disease – straining to understand whispered conversations, filling knowledge gaps with their worst fears, and shouldering emotional burdens that no one realises they are carrying.
Dr Karen Singh, a radiation oncologist who practises at Netcare Alberton, Netcare Park Lane and Netcare Milpark hospitals, has witnessed this heartbreak unfold throughout her years of treating cancer patients.
Watching children hover at the edges of consultations, desperate to understand but excluded from the conversation, she realised these young family members needed their own way to process what was happening.
This inspired Mama’s Garden of Hope, a book that helps children understand cancer treatment through gentle metaphors and explanations, making them feel included rather than isolated.
