Breaking Rules to Stay Alive : Helen’s Choice When the System Failed Her
When a doctor tells you that you have six months left to live, the rules you once blindly followed start to lose their authority. The routines, the laws, the social expectations — they all fade in importance when survival becomes the only objective that matters. That was the moment Helen found herself in. Not as a protestor or a rebel by nature, but as someone who realized that breaking rules might be the only way to stay alive.
In 2018, Helen was diagnosed with two aggressive, fast-growing brain tumors. Glioblastoma is not a diagnosis that leaves much room for optimism. It is one of the most lethal forms of cancer, and Helen understood that immediately. She had worked within the New Zealand health sector. She knew the protocols. She knew the statistics. And she knew that following the standard pathway offered little more than a controlled decline.
Still, she followed the rules at first.
When Following the Rules Leads Nowhere
Helen underwent three brutal months of chemotherapy and radiation. She endured the exhaustion, the side effects, and the emotional toll that comes with aggressive cancer treatment. She did what she was told. She complied. She trusted the system.
The tumors did not shrink.
At that point, the future narrowed dramatically. The medical options were exhausted, and the prognosis remained unchanged. For many people, this is where resignation sets in. But Helen made a different decision. She began looking outside the system that had reached its limits.
That search led her to Australia.
A Last Opportunity That Required Breaking Rules
Helen discovered an Australian clinical trial that was testing the effects of medical cannabis on brain cancer patients. The trial was tightly controlled and limited to just eighty-six participants. When she enrolled, she became patient number eighty-six. The final slot. A last roll of the dice.
The trial ran for twelve weeks and focused on CBD and THC-based treatments. Patients were given either pure THC, a THC and cannabinol combination, or a placebo. Helen was assigned pure THC. The dosage began conservatively and gradually increased under supervision.
The results were promising.
For the first time since her diagnosis, there was evidence that something was slowing the disease rather than merely managing symptoms. Hope returned — cautiously at first, but undeniably.
Then the trial ended.
When Survival Conflicts With the Law
Returning to New Zealand created a new problem. THC oil was illegal. Continuing the treatment meant stopping entirely or becoming a criminal. Helen chose the latter.
Each flight home involved a calculated risk. She carried additional THC oil so she could maintain the treatment that was showing real results. She understood the consequences if she were caught. The penalties were severe. But so was the alternative.
This is where the idea of breaking rules becomes deeply uncomfortable. Not in theory, but in reality. An elderly woman, already fighting for her life, was forced into secrecy and fear simply for choosing a treatment that worked for her. The system framed her as a criminal, not because she caused harm, but because she stepped outside approved pathways.
The real question becomes unavoidable. What does it say about society when survival itself requires rule-breaking?
Breaking Rules Changes More Than Outcomes
Before this experience, Helen was strongly opposed to cannabis. Like many people, her views were shaped by decades of stigma, misinformation, and fear-based narratives. That changed quickly when the evidence became personal.
Follow-up scans showed no tumor regrowth. Today, only one tumor remains, and it is being actively managed. Helen is still alive. She is mentally alert. She remains involved in her community. Her life did not end on the timeline she was given.
Her perspective shifted completely.
Breaking rules did not make her reckless. It made her informed. It forced her to question why certain treatments are dismissed, delayed, or denied while others are unquestioned, even when they fail.
The Real Cost of Unwritten Rules
Helen’s story exposes a deeper issue. Many of the rules that govern healthcare are not purely about safety. They are shaped by politics, economics, and institutional inertia. These unwritten rules dictate what is considered acceptable long before evidence is fully explored.
For Helen, breaking rules was not about rebellion. It was about agency. It was about choosing life over compliance.
Her willingness to share her story is not about encouraging recklessness. It is about encouraging thought. Education. Open-mindedness. And the courage to question systems that claim authority but fail to deliver outcomes.
Lessons From Helen’s Journey
Helen’s experience reminds us that rules are not sacred simply because they exist. When systems fail, blind obedience becomes dangerous. Breaking rules is sometimes the only way forward, especially when those rules are outdated or disconnected from human reality.
Her story also shows how quickly beliefs can change when evidence becomes personal. Stigma dissolves when results appear. Fear gives way to curiosity. And compliance loses its grip when survival is at stake.
Most importantly, Helen’s journey reinforces a core NoRuleBook principle. You are allowed to question the frameworks that shape your life. You are allowed to explore alternatives. And you are allowed to choose your own path when the prescribed one leads nowhere.
Helen is still with us today because she chose to think independently when it mattered most. Her story is not just about cancer. It is about courage. It is about autonomy. And it is about the quiet, often unseen power of breaking rules when the stakes could not be higher.
