Hope In Uncertain Times

In a letter to YOU, David Butler writes movingly about his cancer battle and also about the love that sustains him

- Franco Havenga

He doesn’t have many positive things to say about 2020.

Like many people in show business, the pandemic robbed actor David Butler of work, and his income all but dried up.

He was forced to move in with one of his daughters and become a dependant on her medical aid – and in the three months’ waiting period before he could claim benefits, he was tossed another curveball: lung cancer. And it had already spread to his brain.

David, who has a long list of acting credits, including roles in Generations, The Game, Soul City, Snitch, Room 9 and Jozi-H, is clinging to the hope that aggressive treatment will work.

But he knows the road ahead is strewn with potholes – and battling a life-threatening illness when a pandemic is lurking around every corner makes the challenges all the harder.

In a heartrending letter to YOU, David (60) speaks of the shock of his diagnosis, the love of his family and the courage he needs to find to keep going.

'MOST of my life has been spent taking on roles in which I play other people. Now I’m tackling the biggest role of my life – except this time it isn’t for theatre or TV or movies. It’s real. My life has just got very real.

I know I’m fortunate to have had a good career. I’ve been performing for decades. For 20 of these years, I brought Herman Charles Bosman to life in various one-man shows such as A Touch of Madness and A Teacher in the Bushveld.

I also have international screen credits that include Black Sails, Warrior, Maze Runner, Of Kings and Prophets and many more.

Then 2020 happened. It was a terrible time for the world and catastrophic for artists.