WATCH: A Sooke mom who survived cancer twice is hard at work. For the second season, she’s running the area’s first vegan food truck. Luisa Alvarez has her story.
Shawna Knight is known not only for surviving thyroid cancer twice, but also for opening the first vegan food truck in Sooke.
She was first diagnosed in 2013 and beat the cancer but then it came back two years later. Knight said the doctors said the cancer would keep coming back and they would keep cutting it out.
“My whole life kind of fell apart and things that didn’t matter slipped away things that did matter became more important and that was my family and my friends,” said Knight.
She said she decided to keep on fighting.
“I kind of just had to move on, move forward, just keep rolling,” said Knight.
And her fighting attitude has really resonated with her 12-year-old son Rainen Spurr.
“She’s been through so much. She’s brave pretty much everything you want in a mom,” said Spurr.
And after becoming cancer free again, Knight decided to follow her passion for healthy eating. She opened Buddha Box, Sooke’s first vegan food truck.
“I wanted to create a fast, affordable, healthy lunch spot for Sooke or passersby that didn’t take forever. You didn’t have to sit down it’s more casual and then you could take off,” said Knight.
She likes the idea of a food truck because of the freedom it gives. She can take it anywhere she wants to go.
The plant-based lunch spot is now rolling into its second season and uses local produce.
The business also allows Knight to work alongside her two kids and that’s what is really important. Buddha Box is a demonstration of all she cares about.
“When I first got cancer I just thought ‘it’s now or never.’ You kind of just have to seize it and follow your dreams and be passionate about the things you care about because there is no time,” said Knight.
Taking away cancers power to define her Shawna knight defines herself as the ‘comeback queen.’
For Buddha Box’s menu and locations of operation follow it on Facebook and Instagram. Hours and locations are updated every Tuesday for the following week.
Buddha Box is also on the Street Food App.
Luisa Alvarez
