Cancer patient believes love and kindness is behind his improved health

Could love and kindness be enough to cure cancer?

Vancouver cancer patient Brice Royer believes it absolutely possible, shocking doctors and medical professionals when the tumor in his stomach actually decreased in size after he made a commitment to perform random acts of kindness daily.

Royer was diagnosed with stomach cancer four years ago. Doctors told the 31-year-old his stomach tumor would likely kill him, causing the Vancouverite to slip into a depression.

In 2013, a doctor told Royer that kindness is the best medicine. It was advice the young man took to heart, not only changing his own life, but the lives of dozens of others.

For the past few years, Royer made it his mission to heal himself from depression by doing random acts of kindness. He became a media sensation for writing one of the world’s most read Craigslist’s ad “Unconditional Love for $0,” which reached over a million views in one day.

Performing acts of kindness has been Royer’s main priority for the past year. On Sunday, the cancer patient brought his message to Kelowna, sharing his story for a group of 900 at the Kelowna Community Centre. He spoke alongside Anita Moorjani, a New York Times bestselling author and speaker who made a miraculous cancer recovery after experiencing unconditional love during a coma.

“I always encourage people to pay it forward because I truly believe kindness benefits the giver and receiver,” said Royer.

“Originally, I did acts of kindness to heal my depression from cancer, but I was surprised to find out the tumor in my stomach had actually shrunk.”

It was a fact that had Royer’s doctors scratching their heads. Could love and kindness be the cure to cancer researchers have been desperately searching for?

“My doctor said, you know, as a medical doctor I cannot say that love cures cancer but maybe by surrounding yourself with kindness, it reduces stress levels and cortisone levels that may have contributed to medical success. He told me to keep doing what I’m doing.”

And what he is doing is surrounding himself with unconditional love in every point of his life. During his visit to Kelowna, Royer said someone offered to foot his hotel bill, prompting him to pay that kindness forward by giving $100 to a woman in Sunday’s audience who was in need of a little pampering after taking care of three family members with cancer.

Since Royer began his kindness mission, his tumor has shrunk and his health has improved. Royer whole-heartedly believes his improvement his solely due to making the decision to spread love. He said his experience in Kelowna has been incredible and can’t wait to return.

“It’s amazing here, the people are so friendly. I love the small-town feeling, the community feeling. I felt very welcomed.”

If there is one message Royer hopes to leave the City of Kelowna with, it is this.

“Don’t under estimate the power of love and kindness.”