Sima Hadidi, Richmond Resident
Driving with Compassion, Listening with Heart

For Richmond volunteer driver Sima Hadidi, every ride is about far more than getting someone to an appointment. It is about offering kindness, understanding, and comfort during one of the most difficult times in a person’s life.

Most of Sima’s drives begin in Richmond, although she has recently been helping patients in Vancouver as well. On the days she volunteers, she plans her schedule carefully, often taking a walk near the cancer centre while patients are receiving treatment. If there is extra time, you may find her wandering around Granville Island, enjoying the waterfront, listening to live music, or simply taking in the peaceful surroundings before returning to drive someone home safely.

Sima’s connection to this work began long before she became a volunteer. In 2023, while recovering from her own cancer treatment, she saw a news story about Volunteer Cancer Drivers Society.

“I remember thinking, ‘What a wonderful idea.’ During my treatments there were days I struggled to drive myself, and I often felt like a burden asking my son to take time away from work or school to drive me. I wished I had known this service existed. Right then I decided that once I was able, I wanted to be on the giving end of that kindness.”

Like many volunteers, Sima laughs when she thinks back to her first few drives.

“My GPS had me driving in circles between Oak and Granville Streets. The patient and his wife were so patient and kind, gently trying to point me in the right direction while the GPS insisted otherwise. Thankfully, we’d left early enough that we still arrived on time.”

Since then, Sima has shared many journeys with patients, but it is the conversations, and sometimes the silence, that stay with her. One patient, a young single mother diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer, remains especially close to her heart. Over several rides, Sima came to understand some of the fear and uncertainty the patient was carrying, especially as a parent facing cancer. She still thinks about the patient and her child.

Those experiences have taught Sima that sometimes the greatest gift is not having the perfect words.

“It’s strengthened my belief that there’s a time to talk and a time to simply stay quiet. People living with cancer don’t always need conversation. Sometimes they just need someone willing to be present.”

Whether patients know it or not, many of them remain in Sima’s heart long after the ride ends.

“I often pray quietly for the people I’m driving. Later, during meditation, they come back into my thoughts.”

There are days when Sima is tired and could easily take time off. Yet if it is someone she has driven before, she often chooses to accept the ride anyway.

“The patients I’ve come to know are what keep me saying yes.”

Having experienced cancer herself, Sima understands first-hand how much reliable transportation can mean.

“Knowing how much it would have meant to me to have someone drive me to treatment makes volunteering even more rewarding.”

Every kilometre Sima drives is a reminder that healing is not only found in medicine. Sometimes it is found in a welcoming smile, a safe ride, a listening ear, or simply knowing that someone cares enough to show up.

Thank you, Sima, for sharing your journey and for bringing compassion, hope, and humanity to every patient you meet. Your kindness reminds us that even the smallest acts of care can make an extraordinary difference.