Torsten Koehler (57), a testicular cancer survivor and author from
Cape Town, founded non-profit organisation, Love Your Nuts in 2014, to create awareness around the ‘shy killer’, that affects 1
in 250 men.
Torsten was confronted with cancer in 1995, with no internet
access, no support groups on social media and limited information, which made
an already difficult journey even more isolating.
Torsten thankfully survived his cancer diagnosis due to early
detection, and made it his mission to teach his sex education students in
Namibia about cancer, as testicular cancer commonly affects men between the
ages of 15-45.
“Men in general don’t talk about their feelings or their health,
and for young men this is even more true. Young men often feel that they need
to stand their ground, show they are strong and buy into the ‘men don’t cry’
fallacy. What I tried to do with my classes is to break the stigma around this
taboo topic and shatter the shyness around testicular
cancer,” said Torsten.
“My book Love Your Nuts –
Testicular Cancer touched my Life was released in 2004.
Years later a past student who was 16 contacted me and told me that he had
testicular cancer and that I saved his life. This inspired me to launch my
non-profit a decade later,” he said.
For the past eight years, Love Your Nuts has toured schools with their Cancer Smart School Programme and has
reached over 34 700 individuals face-to-face
at various events with their message.
“Knowledge and early detection are the best weapons against cancer.
If we can educate our children early in their lives, the survival rate will be
much higher. Changing the behaviour of young people by teaching them to look
after their health will lead to a healthier next generation who will uplift
their communities.”
Crowdfunding on BackaBuddy
To transform their school program, which teaches children about various forms of cancer, into an educational
gaming app, Love Your Nuts has partnered with The
Centre for Community Technologies at Nelson Mandela University in Gqeberha to develop an
app prototype.
In need of R400 000 to begin phase one of the project, Love Your Nuts has launched a crowdfunding campaign on
BackaBuddy, in hopes to reach remote
areas in South Africa and around the globe, where information and medical
resources lack the most.
The end goal, Torsten said, is to save as many young lives as
possible.
“Funds raised will be used to develop a functional prototype that
can help us secure support from larger investors, get legal advice to protect
the rights of the children who will be using our app, consult with medical
experts to revise the cancer information and to keep it up to date and cover
the cost of testing and further development.”
With initial support 14 donors have already contributed R2 400 towards the crowdfunding campaign,
which is expected to have tremendous impact.
The importance of early detection
“With today’s technology, we can educate
individuals about the significance of early detection of cancer:
- It’s less pain and
trauma for the patient, - It’s less of a
financial burden for the patient (the majority of South Africans don’t
have medical aid), - Bed occupancy in
hospitals is shorter, which cuts costs for the government, - Treatment is shorter
and a cost-saver for medical aid and government, - If cancer is detected
very early, in some cases, no treatment (chemo, etc.) is needed.
