Survivor Safari: Honoring Cancer Survivors & Caregivers, May 16th – 18th

Time & Date

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Survivor Safari, a three-day conference sponsored by the Patient & Family department, will be held May 16-18 at the John Newcombe Conference Center in New Braunfels.

The event will feature keynote speaker Ethan Zohn, a cancer survivor and winner of the reality television program “Survivor: Africa”. Zohn, diagnosed with a rare form of Hodgkin’s Lymphoma in 2009, has won many accolades for his charitable work.

The conference honors cancer survivors and caregivers, teaching them coping skills to improve their life after a cancer diagnosis. A host of experts will be speaking on topics ranging from exercise to meditation.

Activities are scheduled throughout the conference to reinforce the skills participants will need to help them cope with cancer’s impact on their mental and physical wellbeing.

Cost for the weekend retreat is $150, which includes two nights lodging, meals, snacks and all activities. A limited number of scholarships are available. For more information, call 210-450-5574.

“We have picked the theme, “Surviving & Thriving: Survivor Safari,” to stress the journey each patient and caregiver faces with cancer,” explains Jackson, the director of the Patient’s & Family department. “On an African Safari, there can be scary moments and unexpected adventures, just like dealing with cancer.”

The featured speaker Zohn can relate because he knows something about Africa, having won $1 million on the Survivor: Africa reality show. As a result of his experience, Zohn became involved in the fight against AIDS on the African continent.

Zohn also became a national spokesman for Katie Couric’s Stand Up to Cancer campaign during his battle with the disease. He also kept a weekly video blog on People Magazine’s website.

In recognition of his charitable work, Zohn has won numerous awards, including the 2008 “A Caring Hand’s Philanthropic Achievement Award” and the “Auxilia Chimusoro Award” from the U.S. State Department in Zimbabwe.