Beating cancer is a tough task. To beat cancer twice is remarkable.

Despite long odds, Genevieve Duford has beaten Acute Myelogenous Leukemia (AML) twice. AML is an aggressive blood and bone cancer with a low survival rate, since this form of cancer prevents the body from protecting itself against infection. Not only did Genevieve survive, she chose a unique path in doing it.

At age 15, facing failing health due to heavy chemotherapy at BC Children’s Hospital, Genevieve chose to leave the hospital to pursue a course of alternative medicine.

“I felt that I knew my body and was having infection after infection. So I told the doctor I could literally take no more,” she explains.

Genevieve began drinking colostrum, the first two weeks of a cow’s milk after its calf is born. Since cows are cancer-free, colostrum is thought to contain antibodies that prevent the formation of cancer cells. Genevieve was symptom-free for nine years, during which she attended high school and worked in the European market as a fashion model.

In January 2005, it was discovered that the cancer had returned. This time, Genevieve chose conventional medicine and began treatment at Vancouver General Hospital.

A round of chemotherapy was followed quickly by “lethal chemo,” where the bone marrow is eradicated and then replaced by a transplant. Genevieve says she was “tremendously lucky” to have a perfect bone marrow match with her younger brother Alexander. One hundred days later, Genevieve celebrated the success of the bone marrow transplant, the same day as her 24th birthday!

Genevieve is quick to credit her family and her boyfriend Jamie for her survival.

“My mom and dad were constantly at my bedside, as was my boyfriend Jamie. Jamie’s outlook was the best for me, since I’m a planner and he lives life for the moment,” says Genevieve. “Jamie’s attitude toward my illness had a lasting impression on me—I’m definitely more relaxed in the way I go about my life now.”

When asked about what she would tell someone about having cancer, her eyes radiate enthusiasm.

“If I could get one point across, it is that there are survivors. There are survivors where you would have no clue unless they told you. Every little contribution helps, since that is how great hospitals are built and unbelievable doctors and nurses are hired.”