24-year-old attains matric certificate after cancer diagnosis

What you are about to read is a story of courage in a time of complete adversity.

A story of how an 18-year-old’s life-threatening diagnosis became a 24-year-old’s triumph of attaining his matric certificate.

After a doctor’s appointment changed Jarred Wood’s life completely, he was forced to reckon with the dual feelings of depression and hope. In 2014, Jarred was like any dedicated matric learner of King David Victory Park. With good marks, being head of arts and culture, being awarded honours badges and numerous achievements to his name, he was on the fast-track of being one of the notable learners of the school.

He had visited the doctor because of having pain in his eyes, and once nothing was found to be a problem with them, it was suggested he get an MRI scan. The findings of the scan showed there was a grey mass on his brain– Jarred had brain cancer.

“I just knew cancer was a death sentence and I was in denial for a moment, and then I walked out of the doctor’s offices and found my mother and said ‘hey, so…I’ve got brain cancer’ and after saying that it dawned on me that I may never leave this place [hospital] today. I am just lucky I did,” he said.

This diagnosis came just before he was to write his final matric exams which meant that Jarred’s dreams of attaining his matric certificate were brought to a complete halt.

According to him, the treatment and recovery process was a rough period for him and he went into a deep depression. On one hand, he thought he was just buying time until his death, and on the other he knew he still had so much to do on this earth. It was during his recovery process that his father passed away and so too did his ‘second mother’, the domestic worker that helped raise him.

In the same period, he had to re-learn how to walk and see again because as he put it, he was a ‘complete vegetable and the whole process of recovery was extremely difficult. Coupled with all of this, he had to navigate his feelings he felt after being completely ignored by his friends.

His main support system was and still is, his mom who never left his side and only did so when she was confident enough he would manage by himself. “She was there 24/7 and had to take off work and, at some point, had been at home for so long trying to look after me that I told her to go back to work.”

Being alone at home he had to find a way to push through his challenges by himself. He said he was thrown into the deep end and learned a lot through it, What kept him positive was that there was still so much for him to achieve and the hopeful thought of his return to normalcy and living an awesome life.

After he recovered, he didn’t want go back to finish his matric year as he felt as though he didn’t need the qualification. So he started part-time work and rejected the idea of going back to school because if anything, his diagnosis proved that 12 years of hard work could all go down the drain in a moment. It was not until three years ago that he had some sort of ‘spiritual awakening’ and as he put it, saw the world for what it was, and his thought processes became more logical and he started looking for places to complete his matric.

“I am in love with knowledge and I know it can bring such power.” Hearing about his search for a school to complete his matric, King David Victory Park approached him and asked that he complete his final year through them.

In 2021 Jarred finally attained his matric certificate, opening up a world with even more possibilities for him.