Illness and survival narratives are foreseeable realms of discussion in life writing. The struggle, chaos and fear of living lead to the uncertainty of existence. The threat of death is observed in the writings of Susan Sontag to Susan Gubar. Women and illness narratives tend to create a space for observing various lived experiences in each culture and locality. The intense journey of living through traumatic conditions of struggle towards survival, urges close observations in literature. The passion for life and the fight for a successful conquering of life through resistance, resilience and redemption are identified in the memoirs of survivors. This study evokes the search of four Indian women survivors’ successful struggle of fighting back the villain ‘cancer’ through quests and inquiries into the inner self, finding strength from within, realising the powerful source of living, accommodating support groups and conquering a peaceful existence. The tough journey from diagnosis through treatment and finally towards the success of survival confirms a battle, achieving the triumph of life. The quest for life informs the realisation of existence in the lives of the four writers reaching a moment of complacence, and evolving into characters of completeness for an ingenious living experience. Close to the Bone by Lisa Ray a renowned model and Actor, Healed by Manisha Koirala, a leading film actor, Cancer with Love by Neelam Kumar a motivational speaker and Dying to be me by Anita Moorjani, a consultant for multinational companies, speak for the fortunate triumph of survival, conquering life towards the nurturing of complete living and mindfulness.