Raising hope for Layla
LONEHILL - Four-year-old Layla O'Neill from Lonehill suffers from a rare condition called Neuroplasm Glial Ependymoma.
Her family found out about her condition earlier this year after she had a recurrence of illness.
Layla’s aunt Paula O’Neill said, “She kept getting sick and the doctors kept saying it was a viral infection. She was experiencing pain in her legs, which we all thought was growing pains.”
In May Layla started vomiting blood and her mother immediately took her to the hospital.
Layla was given an MRI scan which picked up that there was fluid on her brain and spots on her spine.
O’ Neill said, “The doctors said it was the first time they’d ever seen something like this. They operated and put in a shunt which takes the fluid away from her brain to relieve the pressure. They told us that if we had waited a day more to bring her to the hospital she would have not survived.”
O’ Neill added, “Layla is such a little fighter. She’s obsessed with Spiderman – he’s her favourite superhero.”
The tumours on Layla’s spine make daily life difficult for her.
O’ Neill explained, “The tumours are in her central nervous system so they make her very emotional. They also affect her bladder and her bowels and put pressure on her brain. Her immune system is also very weak. She has to wear a mask every time she goes out.”
The tumours cannot be surgically removed as they could paralyse Layla for life. Her only hope is proton treatment which is only available at the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Texas.
Layla’s mother Sharyn O’Neill explained, “The proton treatment itself costs R2.8 million – and that’s excluding the flights over there and the cost of living in Texas for up to six weeks.”
To raise money for Layla’s treatment her family and friends have started the Raising Hope for Layla non-profit organisation, which hosts events like high teas and golf days but also asks for donations from the public.
Sharyn O’ Neill said, “We have a deadline of three weeks now. The doctors have just told us that if we’re doing this treatment we have to do it now. I will never give up hope for my daughter. I will do anything I can to get her this treatment.”
To contribute to Raising Hope for Layla contact Sharyn or Paula O’Neill.
Details: rh4layla@gmail.com
