Little girl with rare cancer needs help
Crowdfunding campaign launched to help family with costs.
Five-year-old Shanaya Govender from Wilgeheuwel has battled Ewing’s Sarcoma, a rare form of bone cancer, since the age of three.
Shanaya initially became ill in April 2017, when she woke up in the middle of the night screaming with pain in her left arm and a fever of 41°. She was rushed to the emergency unit of a hospital and referred to an orthopaedic specialist who diagnosed her with Osteomyelitis. Despite six theatre visits, countless tests and scans by numerous specialists, her arm continued to swell to more than three times its original size.
“In September 2017, after six months of our princess being operated on and misdiagnosed, we received the life-changing news that no parent should ever have to hear. ‘I’m so sorry, but your child does not have an infection. She has a rare type of cancer called Ewing’s Sarcoma. Unfortunately, it is in Stage 4, and has spread to both her lungs.’ As parents, my husband, Shane and I just sat frozen, listening to what we thought was a bad dream,” said 34-year-old Lee-Ann Govender, Shanaya’s mother.
After Shanaya received her diagnosis, regular blood transfusions and aggressive chemotherapy followed, but her left arm sadly had to be amputated on 2 March last year, due to the massive size of her tumour. Shanaya was finally on the road to recovery after she lost her arm, but in July 2018, the family learned the troubling news that Shanaya’s cancer had resurfaced and spread to multiple spots in her legs and pelvis.
To date, Shanaya has been in and out of hospital approximately 26 times and has been unable to attend school since April 2017. Shanaya has also been unable to walk since July 2018.
With her condition worsening, Lee-Ann has had no choice but to abandon her career to give Shanaya the full care and support she needs. As a result, the family was forced to downscale their lifestyle and survive as a one-income household.
To support the family with funds to help cover their bond, electricity, transportation to and from the hospital, special dietary requirements, as well as additional medical expenses not covered by their medical aid, a campaign has been created for donations on the crowd funding platform, BackaBuddy.
Any member of the public who wants to help the family can make a donation via https://www.backabuddy.co.za.
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