Benson's dire prognosis a lifetime ago; Given year to live at 14, Margaret defies odds, big time
The Province | Susan Lazaruk
Photo: Margaret Benson has bounced back from grave illnesses to win athletic awards. Photograph by: Nick Procaylo , Province
Except for a mild cold, Margaret Benson presents a picture of health - fit, trim, clear-eyed with youthful skin and flowing, long brown hair.
It's hard to reconcile that image with the news her doctor gave her almost 40 years ago when she was 14, that cystic fibrosis would kill her within a year.
"My doctor said, 'Go and live your life for the next year to the best of your ability,"' said Benson, the Courage to Come Back Award recipient in the medical category, at the North Vancouver home she shares with her husband, Brian, of 24 years.
"I remember I said, 'No, no, I'm going to live until I'm old and grey,'" she said, laughing that at 53, she has only 10 grey hairs.
Benson became a teacher at 21, fulfilling a dream she had had since she was three.
She's taught ever since, spending 14 years at Brooksbank Elementary in North Vancouver, even when she had to go to school with a portable intravenous antibiotics machine, earning her the affectionate nick-name "The Tube Lady" among her students.
It's hard to reconcile that image with the news her doctor gave her almost 40 years ago when she was 14, that cystic fibrosis would kill her within a year.
"My doctor said, 'Go and live your life for the next year to the best of your ability,"' said Benson, the Courage to Come Back Award recipient in the medical category, at the North Vancouver home she shares with her husband, Brian, of 24 years.
"I remember I said, 'No, no, I'm going to live until I'm old and grey,'" she said, laughing that at 53, she has only 10 grey hairs.
Benson became a teacher at 21, fulfilling a dream she had had since she was three.
She's taught ever since, spending 14 years at Brooksbank Elementary in North Vancouver, even when she had to go to school with a portable intravenous antibiotics machine, earning her the affectionate nick-name "The Tube Lady" among her students.
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