Hell! That’s the word he uses to describe his struggle with rectal cancer – and it’s easy to see why.
Bertie du Plessis has endured a multitude of medical nightmares: dozens of surgeries, several repairs to ruptures in his stomach lining, life-threatening sepsis, a blocked colon – the list goes on and on.
And each time he went under the knife it was just a temporary fix, leaving him no closer to relief from the excruciating pain in his gut. He’d reached the point in his ordeal where he was willing to try any treatment – which is why, when his doctors suggested grafting a piece of pigskin to his stomach lining to stop the ruptures, Bertie didn’t think twice.