Surrey teacher Iris Sharma is channelling years of frustration with B.C.’s health care system and struggles with cancer into something positive.
Despite battling fatigue as she endures chemotherapy, the 38-year-old woman has organized a charity walk next Saturday in Coquitlam to raise money for cancer research.
Earlier this year, Sharma spoke to Postmedia about her experience with lengthy waits to see specialists — a crisis affecting more than 1.3 million British Columbians — before finding out she had a brain tumour.
“I think part of why I wanted to do this is because I’ve spent so much of the last year on the receiving end of cancer care,” she said Saturday. She said her health problems have made her understand how important cancer research and patient support programs are in improving outcomes for patients.
Her story didn’t start with a cancer diagnosis though. In 2023, she began experiencing severe neurological symptoms, including short-term memory loss, nausea and dizziness. A year later, and many trips to the emergency room, her symptoms were so bad she found walking and thinking difficult. She finally got on a wait-list to see a neurologist but it would be eight more months until she had an MRI that revealed a brain tumour.
Since her diagnosis, She’s gone through radiation and now she is undergoing chemotherapy. But that hasn’t stopped her from getting involved with the Canadian Cancer Society as a volunteer, as a way to do something positive amid grief.
Now, along with another volunteer Hannah Bath, she’s organized a Walk for Hope, being held next Saturday (Sept. 12) at Lafarge Lake in Coquitlam. The event runs from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and participants don’t need to register.
“I’m hoping it can be a really welcoming community event. You don’t have to have cancer, know someone with cancer, walk a certain distance, or raise a certain amount of money. People can simply show up and be part of it,” she said.
“People can just come by, walk with us for however long they want, and donate if they would like to.”
SURREY, B.C., Feb. 13, 2026 — Iris Sharma comments on long wait times for medical diagnoses the province at home in Surrey, B.C., Feb. 13, 2026. Photo: Nick Procaylo/PNG.
This year. Sharma was among the more than 1.3 million British Columbians waiting to see a specialist, according to a recent report by Doctors of B.C., Consultant Specialists of B.C. and B.C. Family Doctors.
In some areas, including cardiology, neurology and orthopedics, the wait time is now over a year.
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