"The health minister must be strong. She herself is a doctor so I believed she is strong," she said after receiving Edgae Xavier, the 12-year old wushu athlete that won a gold medal in the 2010 Junior Wushu Championship.
Linda said she herself had experienced the same situation several years ago when she was declared suffering from a breast cancer.
She said with the full support of the family and spirit to recover she finally was able to beat the disease and recovered from the illness.
"Therefore I could feel and understand what the health minister is feeling right now and I believed she could be able to surpass it well and recover." she said.
Linda said what was important was support from the family, the people and close associates.
"We must all give her support. Many have suffered from cancer but many have also been able to survive and recover. So the struggle is still long and therefore one must have spirit to recover," he said.
Linda also believed as a doctor the health minister certainly knew what she had to do to fight the disease.
"Ibu (Mme) Endang knows better what she has to do. She is a doctor," she said.
When asked the health minister had once told her about her illness Linda declined to answer.
"It is a secret. What is certain is we are close friends as common ministers and women but I could not tell whether she had once told me about her disease," she said.
Minister Sedyaningsih earlier said the illness would not disrupt her activity as a minister.
The disease was detected when the minister had a routine health check-up in October, 2010. (*)
Editor: Kunto Wibisono
Copyright © ANTARA 2011
