Cancer Won’t Stop Doctor — or His Work
FLORIDA TODAY (Nov. 22, 2009) - by John A. Torres
Clinics, Orphanage Part of Legacy - Cont'd from page 1
who would not be intimidated
by a large volume of patients.
Charles got the job,andhisnew
office was treating 100 patients
a day.
In 1980, at his first staffmeeting,
Charles made this pledge: “Any patient that comes
through our doors, money or
nomoney,we will treat.”
The hospital backed him up,
waiving its fees for his patients.
Butmoreneededtobedone. “As time went on, I recognized
that patients were not filling
prescriptions, and I can see
theawkwardness of the patient
whenI asked if they filled a prescription,”
he said. “They had
no money, and that’s how the
foundation came into my
mind.”
But before the foundation
was formed, Charles already
was trying to provide that little
extra that would lift his patients’
spirits and give them the
outlook they needed to defeat
cancer. He celebrated patients’ birthdays,
personally going to the
ward after a long day atwork to
wish them a happy birthday.
He started giving free medications
to the uninsured, and he
helped them pay utility bills
and rent out of his own pocket.
Helping out
Having become a successful
doctor and a man whom his father would
have been proud of,
Charles undertook a project
that even he was not sure
would work. He wanted to fulfill
his grandmother’s dream of
a hospital for the poor in southern India.
He chose the area of Andhra
Pradesh, where cervical, head
and neck cancer run rampant.
The idea: offer everyone treatment
and charge them based
on their ability to pay.
When his assistant, Marta
Fiol, a cancer survivor herself,
saw how hard he was working
on the project, she askedothers
in the department to lend a
hand.
“I said, ‘Doctor, I know you
haven’t asked us for anything,
but we want to help your family
realize this dream,’ so that’s
how a Taste of India came
about,”Fiol said.
Charles, his wife and sister
cooked authentic Indian food
in their Melbourne home and
fedmore than 400 people, who
were happy to donate to his
cause. The event was held annually
from 1986 until 1989,
when the Christian Cancer
Care Center in India became
self-sufficient.
They resurrected the fundraising
dinner in the early
1990s after a natural disaster in
Bangladesh. Local charities
took notice of the event’s success,
and leaders asked
Charles if he would consider
holding the benefit every year.
“So, now we do dinners for
local non-profits,” Fiol said.
This year’s beneficiary is the
Boys & Girls Club of Central
Florida in Brevard County. “This is very rewarding,”
Charles said. “It’s a beautiful
experience.”
After the September 11 terrorist attacks,
a special, rushed Taste of
India was held to help widows
and children of firefighters and
police officers who were killed.
Giving back
Dr. Silas Charles, a radiation oncologist and founder of the Cancer Care Foundation, has spent
his life giving back. He has waived fees for patients, given out free medicine to the uninsured and helped
them pay rent and utility bills out of his own pocket.
“Within 15 days of 9-11, we
raised more than $200,000,”
said County Judge A.B. Majeed,
a friend ofCharles’. “He is
the kind of person who is able
to assist all because of his leadership
and his philanthropic
qualities and the fact that he’s a
gentle personality.”
Charles also founded a leprosy
mission in India and an orphanage
for boys left by cancer
victims. Two years ago, the
president of Costa Rica invited
Charles to meet him to plan a
cancer center there.
Providing Support
Having established three
cancer centers in Brevard by
the early 1990s, Charles was
looking for away to help his patients
pay for their needs. In
1993, he started the Cancer
Care Foundation to better financially
assist the uninsured
and underinsured with rent,
mortgage, utilities and their
painandcancermedications. “As we started the foundation,
nice people came along,”
he said. “And by God’s grace,
we are able to support folks
that are having difficulties.”
The main fundraiser is the
Caring Hearts benefit auction
held at the Indialantic home of
Ed and Jeanne Andre, featuring
donated items and foods
from many in the community.
Dr. Belinda Dickinson, an
ear, nose and throat doctor,
said someone like Charles, so
involved in humanitarian efforts,
is rare. “He is the only radiation oncologist
I will send my patients
to,” she said. “I think he is a
pretty spectacular fellow. He
has a connection, a spiritual
connection, to his patients, the
community and the world.”
‘Living testimony’
Tom Pedicini was diagnosed
at the age of 22 withHodgkin’s
lymphoma. “Your life gets put
at a standstill, and you evaluate
everything,” said Pedicini, who
went to Charles for radiation
treatment.
Charles family photo
Family history. Silas Charles, left,
stands with his father, Palaparthi
Charles, in the early 1960s in
Sakhinetipalli, India.
“He told me to keep apositive atitude
and to maintain my life as
much as possible,” he said. “I was
still incollege, and he found grants
for me, paid formy cell phone and
found rides for me when I needed
it. He was always calling to see if
our family was OK.”
When Pedicini couldn’t pay
some medical bills, Charles and
his staff told him that they would. “They said,‘Merry Christmas,’ ”
he said.
He has been cancer-free for six
years with a wife, toddler and another
child on the way. “I tell Dr.
Charles that they are the living testimony
of what he did for me,”
Pedicini said. “If it wasn’t for him, I
would not be here right now.”
‘Why not me?’
In summer 2008, six months
after the start of a nagging cough,
Charles himself was diagnosed
with lymphoma, one of the deadliest
cancers.
He knew something was wrong
when he saw the sad look on the
face of the technicians administering
the tests. “I thought, ‘Why notme?’ There
was no struggle. I accepted it,
and it’s time for going and getting treatment,”
he said. “It does make a lot of difference.
Telling someone they
have cancer, it is a hardword in
many people’s minds, and you
have to be gentle and tell them.
I diagnosed myself, so I knew
all along.”
Charles became very sick,
but the quick start of treatment
saved his life. It also made him
rethink how his own patients
are treated. “I wasn’t used to
being a patient, and I had time
to think about a lot of things,”
he said. “Sometimes patients
have to wait two months to get
treatment. It can become end stage
in that time if it is an aggressive form of
cancer.”
Charles started a programin
which patients would not have
to travel between different doctors and offices
to be treated. “Now, we have chemo and
radiation in the same place,” he
said. “It’s like one-stop shopping for
the patient.”
Despite battling cancer and
the adverse way some of the
treatments affected him,
Charles continuedwithhis normalcharity
efforts.
Nextmonth,he plans to go to
Ethiopia to help start a cancer
care center for the poor. “Thiswas the type of ailment
that really makes you really
come to terms with knowing
life as a finite thing,” said Majeed,
the judge. “People in this
situation sometimes think they
should get more reclusive, start
taking a backseat in life. But
this has only spurred him on
because he knows that he has a
finite time.”
Charles admits to feeling uncertain
at times, especially
when he was hospitalized. “That was the only time I was
unsure whether tomorrow
existed for me,” he said. “God
willing, it’s over. If it’s not over,
I am in good remission, and I
have some plans to do. I have to
move on and do what I need to
do.”
John A. Torres
Florida Today
jtorres@floridatoday.com
Meet Silas J. Charles, MD (62)
Education: S.F.S. College,
Nagpur, India; Christian
Medical College, Ludhiana,
India; medical internship,
CMC Hospital, Ludhiana,
India; surgical internship,
Lutheran Medical Center,
Cleveland; residency in
radiation oncology, Memorial
Sloan-Kettering Cancer
Center, New York City;
Radiation oncology
fellowship, Mount Sinai
Hospital, New York City
Occupation: Radiation
Oncologist; founder of the
Cancer Care Foundation
Civic involvement: Annual
Taste of India fundraiser to
benefit local nonprofit
charities; founder of the
Cancer Care Foundation that
provides cancer treatment
regardless of patients’
ability to pay
Dr. Silas
Charles’ Awards
In 1992, voted to be
Humanitarian of the Year by
Holmes Regional Medical
Center’s staff
Honored as the 2001
FLORIDA TODAY Volunteer of
the Year for Brevard County,
having been recognized for
his assistance to the
uninsured, as well as for
volunteering in other
community efforts and
performing free cancerrelated
physical
examinations
In 2003, given the
Brevard County Chapter of
the American Cancer
Society’s Appreciation
Award
In 2006, a recipient of
the James Bentley
Humanitarian Award from
the Space Coast Chapter of
the American Red Cross
In 2008, awarded the
Presidential Volunteer
Service Award
Fundraiser today
A Taste of India to benefit
the Boys & Girls Clubs of
Central Florida in Brevard
County
When: 5 p.m. today
Where: Melbourne
Auditorium
What: Reception, dinner and
presentation
Cost: $50 per ticket at the
door
