Eric Malkin
Why I Drive

Eric, a resident of Vancouver, didn’t set out looking for recognition; he just said yes when a friend asked.

About four years ago, his good friend Craig Newsholme encouraged him to start driving with Volunteer Cancer Drivers. Craig had joined a few months earlier, and for Eric, it came at the right time. For nearly three decades, he had spent every April canvassing for the Canadian Cancer Society during its Daffodil campaign. When COVID brought that to a halt, he found himself looking for another way to give back.

Driving patients turned out to be something entirely different.

“Every patient has their own story,” Eric says. “Some are quiet. Some want to talk. You just meet them where they are.”

Some moments stay with him. Recently, he drove a 13-year-old girl and her mum who had come in from rural B.C. for follow-ups after surgery.

“I couldn’t get over how brave she was,” he says. “At 13, she should be worrying about anything but cancer.”

On another day, a woman broke down during the ride, asking why this had happened to her. Eric didn’t try to fix it; he simply shared a bit of his own experience and reminded her there can be light at the end of it.

“I hope she found that light,” he says quietly.

Eric understands more than most. Cancer has shaped much of his life, from losing his mother at age nine to losing other close family members over the years. He carries the BRCA2 gene, which increases cancer risk, and over the past 18 years, he’s faced three separate cancer diagnoses himself: melanoma, lung cancer, and a rare soft tissue sarcoma.

Through it all, he keeps his perspective simple and direct:

“I like to say Eric 3, Cancer 0.”

He doesn’t pretend it’s been easy. Surgeries, radiation, long recoveries—he’s lived it. But he also knows how much support matters. When he went through treatment, he had family, friends, and the ability to get himself to appointments. Not everyone does.

That’s where driving comes in.

“Some patients have someone with them. Some don’t have anyone,” he says. “If a bit of conversation helps, even just a little, then that’s something.”

Ask him what the experience has given him, and he doesn’t hesitate:

“Humility. Satisfaction. Appreciation.”

And when patients thank him for the ride?

“They don’t realize I probably get more out of it than they do.”

For Eric, it’s not about doing something extraordinary. It’s about showing up, being present, and making a difficult day just a bit easier.

“If I can make their ride less stressful,” he says, “that’s enough.”

At Volunteer Cancer Drivers Society, we see the care, compassion, and quiet strength Eric brings to every single ride. His lived experience, empathy, and willingness to show up for others, again and again, make a lasting difference for the patients he supports.

Thank you, Eric, for the kindness you bring to each journey.