Shiva had never been a particularly clingy cat, but when Savaş fell ill, something changed: she began sleeping on his chest and staying by his side when he felt weakest.
Savaş Yeşilça was 27 years old and living in Turkey when, in 2022, he was diagnosed with stage III lymphoma. He had been experiencing symptoms such as night sweats and discomfort for nearly two years, until he noticed a swelling under his armpit and tests finally revealed the illness.
Far from his family, he had to face chemotherapy and radiation therapy. By his side was Shiva, the rescued cat he had adopted when she was just six months old. Savaş said that during treatment, her personality changed: she became calmer, stayed close to him, and even curled up on his body to sleep.
On June 30, 2024, he received the news he had been waiting so long for: he had overcome cancer. With his recovery, he says, Shiva also gradually returned to being the restless cat she had been before.
That’s why he wanted to put the two images together. In one, he appears in the middle of treatment, without hair and with Shiva cuddled against his chest; in the other, recovered, with her in exactly the same place. Years passed and almost everything changed, except for the one who stayed by his side ❤️