Dr. Walley Temple is a medical professional with over three decades of experience as a surgical oncologist which is a doctor specializing in cancer surgery.
During his retirement speech in 2019, Temple reminded his peers that surgical oncologists are “here to give our cancer patients hope when they are most vulnerable, most trusting, and most grateful.”
Temple may have put down the scalpel, but he still gives hope to cancer patients worldwide through his work with the Rotary Club.
In his ‘retirement,’ Temple leads a medical team in Guatemala.
The team runs mobile medical clinics in remote mountain regions to provide screening and treatment for cervical cancer.
“With minimal supplies, you go into the remote jungles in Guatemala, which has one of the highest incidences of cervix cancer in the world,” Temple told Global News.
Cervical cancer starts in the cervix, the lower part of the uterus that connects to the vagina.
Almost all cases of cervical cancer are caused by HPV, a sexually transmitted virus.
If cervical cancer is diagnosed at an early stage, the five-year survival rate is over 90 percent, making it one of the most treatable and curable cancers.
On the other hand, early stages of cervical cancer don’t usually involve symptoms and are hard to detect without screening.
That’s where Temple and his team come in.
Their mobile clinics offer screening, diagnosis, and treatment for cervical cancer.
These services would otherwise be challenging to access for people living in Guatemala’s mountainous regions, where there is no government assistance with education, health, or roads.
A lack of access to health care services and low education are two main reasons why cervical cancer rates in Guatemala’s remote regions are so high.
Credit Where Credit Is Due
But Temple and his team can’t be everywhere at once.
In some cases, people travel far distances to reach the mobile clinics.
“One of the worst cases was a woman with arthritis of the hip coming in for a consultation. She walked three days from her mountain village to our mobile clinic,” said Temple.
According to Temple, the process of screening and treatment for cervical cancer is quite simple.
“We used…a little bit of vinegar, a swab – apply vinegar to the cervix, and if it turns white, that’s the cancerous tissue. All you have to do is apply a heated probe to the cervix, and that kills the cancer cells,” he explained.
Temple’s work in Guatemala has earned him a major award from the Rotary Club, the People of Action Award.
Temple will receive his reward in May in Singapore, where the Rotary Club’s 2024 International Convention is being held.
“Out of 1.4 million people worldwide in Rotary, you are one of six people being recognized this year,” fellow Calgary Rotarian Barb Young told Temple.
Temple is back in Calgary but plans to return to Guatemala later this year to continue his project.
“To think that we’re preventing so much cancer is just very exciting,” said Temple.
So far, Temple’s project has screened more than 8,000 women, educated more than 3,000 women about cervical cancer, and trained 65 healthcare practitioners.
Dr. Israel Belenkie, a retired cardiologist and a fellow Calgary Rotarian, praised Temple for his accomplishment, stating, “Temple is a great leader.”
Temple might be retired, but his desire to spread hope is as strong as ever.
