They Were Told It Was the End. But They Chose Life.

When doctors tell someone they only have months left to live, most people are devastated. But these two survivors chose to fight with everything they had. Their powerful stories are about more than recovery. They are about choosing life, facing fear, and discovering what it means to truly live with purpose.

Vicky Laplaman: Dancing with Life Instead of Giving Up

Vicky Laplaman was only nineteen when she was diagnosed with terminal cancer. The disease had already reached stage four, meaning it had spread to other parts of her body. The doctors gave her just three months to live.

That was thirty-five years ago. Today, Vicky is healthy, full of energy, and filled with hope. For the last three decades, she has dedicated her life to helping others through movement therapy and body-mind healing. She now teaches at the Alma Center for Body-Mind-Spirit Balance, which she founded. She previously led the Body-Mind department at Reidman College for ten years, and for the past two years she has co-directed an organization called Turning Point. Together with Dr. Shahar Lev-Ari, they offer courses for cancer patients focused on taking an active role in the healing process.

Vicky believes nothing in life is random. “Before I got sick, I was in a very painful emotional place,” she recalls. “I felt stuck in a life I hadn’t chosen, and I couldn’t go on like that. Looking back, I truly believe that emotional state contributed to the illness and its rapid spread.”

She began chemotherapy and other standard treatments, but also took her healing into her own hands. “What helped me most was bio-energy therapy, which sees cancer not just as a physical illness, but as something connected to the emotional and spiritual parts of a person too. I started a journey into my inner self, where I slowly worked through layers of trauma, sadness, anger, and frustration.”

Vicky searched for ways to express herself. She loved to dance, but she was too weak at first. So she began playing the piano. When her strength returned, she enrolled in the Academy of Music and Dance and threw herself into movement, theater, and music.

Three and a half years after being told she was terminal, she entered a new chapter. She made it her mission to live her life fully and help others do the same. “When doctors told me I had stage four cancer, they said there’s no stage five. But I tell my patients that stage five does exist. It’s called dancing with life.”

Now, she shares her journey with others. “Healing isn’t only about getting better physically. It helped me grow, connect to myself, and help other people. It wouldn’t have meant as much if it had just been about me. I always tell my patients, let’s move from being passive to being active. Let’s go from feeling like victims to becoming creators and partners in our own lives.”

Roy Dagan: Making Cancer Laugh

Six years ago, Roy Dagan was told he had cancer. Not just any cancer, but a tumor in his pancreas, which is considered one of the most dangerous types. “I’m sorry,” the doctor said quietly, “but the biopsy shows you have a cancerous tumor.”

For a long moment, the room fell completely silent. Roy was in shock. “How can this be?” he thought. “I eat healthy, I work out every day, I’ve never had a serious illness. What does cancer have to do with me?”

The news hit hard. Pancreatic cancer has a very low survival rate, and his tumor was especially aggressive.

Roy went back to his hospital room, shut the door, turned off the lights, and sat in silence. But then something inside him shifted. Sixteen years earlier, he had changed his life completely, leaving behind a fast-paced career as a lawyer and international businessman in New York. He became a personal coach, focused on helping people grow spiritually, and began teaching the power of humor.

Now, in the face of death, he made a decision. He would not run away from this moment. “I started to meditate. The thoughts in my mind slowly stopped, and I felt a deep calm. Then I had this thought. Maybe I don’t have to die. Maybe even death is not final. Maybe, at least right now, I have a choice.”

When he opened his eyes, something inside him felt lighter. He got up, took off his hospital pajamas, put on his clothes, and left the building. He got on his scooter and rode straight to a spinning class at his gym. “I had to prove to myself that I’m still alive. That I can still do something hard. That life is not over.”

After surgery and chemotherapy, Roy recovered and returned to his active lifestyle. For two years, he felt healthy. But then doctors found cancer in his lungs, and his condition was once again considered stage four.

“The shock was intense,” he recalls. “But even worse was the feeling that my body had betrayed me. I realized this time I wasn’t just facing one battle. I was in it for the long haul. If I wanted to live, I would have to take full responsibility for my life.”

That was four years ago. Since then, Roy has faced cancer again, gone through more chemotherapy, and has entered remission once more. He lives by a powerful belief. “The body that created the illness is the same body that can heal it. I believe with all my heart that through awareness and consciousness, healing is possible.”

Today, Roy continues to work out and meditate every evening for two hours. He also keeps giving lectures about humor. “I have an agreement with cancer,” he says with a smile. “I make it laugh, and it leaves me alone.”

As a coach, he now focuses on helping people with cancer deal with fear, pain, and uncertainty. “Helping others grow through this experience fills me with purpose. If I can use what I’ve been through to strengthen someone else, then it all means something.”