[Trending Now] This Brave Young Boy's Fight with Cancer Moved and Inspired Netizens
Some time ago, a young mother named Jan Nicola Marfil asked for help online to fund her son's medical bills as he was undergoing tre...
http://www.viralsharer.com/2017/03/trending-now-this-brave-young-boys.html
Some time ago, a young mother named Jan Nicola Marfil asked for help online to fund her son's medical bills as he was undergoing treatment for Acute Myeloid Leukemia. The child's name was Eli and after reading about his story, supporters started refering to him as Mighty Eli.
According to Eli's mother, her son was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia on October 31, 2016 after she brought him to the hospital for a fever. Based on research done by experts, Acute Myeloid Leukemia is one of the most difficult to cure out of all forms of blood cancer.
On her post explaining her son's condition on a crowndfunding site, Jan said the following:
"Hello, my name is Jan. I am a single mom gifted with an amazing 9-year-old son named Eli. Like any mother, my child is my entire world. I work hard to give him the best future. I want him to grow up and not experience the hardships I had in life: difficulty in paying off school, not having a house of our own, and starting a career from scratch--that is, from being a call center agent to being a sales agent. When I had Eli at a young age, I promised myself that he will have a life where he can be whatever he wants to be. I will support his dreams no matter what.
Eli is the best son any mother can ask for. He is mature for his age and understands I have to be absent at times because of work. He is very kindhearted and would be emotional when he sees touching stories on TV. He is also a consistent honors student and dreams of becoming an architect. In short, life was good. We may be far from the dream that I have, but we were on track.
Then October 31, 2016 happened. A fever, which prompted me to bring Eli to the hospital, turned out to be Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML). The dreaded A-M-L: the most fatal of all blood cancers. How can this happen? Eli was at the peak of his health and rarely gets sick. How come the doctors are telling me he may only have eight months to live? I was devastated and confused, but most of all, heartbroken for my little boy who was inside the room patiently waiting to find out what is making him sick. I asked the doctors, what's the plan? So, what now?
AML, an aggressive cancer, has a survival rate of only 30%. It means that only 3 out of 10 people get to survive AML. However, according to the doctors, a stem cell transplant will give him a 70% chance of survival. Seventy percent. From the 30% they were telling me, I started to hope.
Yet, stem cell transplant is expensive. As a single mother, I cannot do it alone. I need your help. This is going to be a long fight, but that's okay. What is important is that HE GETS A FIGHTING CHANCE... and it starts with the transplant. The sooner he can get the transplant, the better.
Eli will be celebrating his 10th birthday this January 19, 2017. By that time, I hope I can finally tell him that we already have the means for him to undergo the transplant. I believe Eli can win this fight. I believe he can win this fight through your kindness and support. As a single mother, this is the best I can do for him. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you very much! Please help us win this fight!"
A Facebook page was also put up by Jan to keep Eli's supporters (and those who donated for his treatment) updated about his condition.
Unfortunately, given that AML is a very complicated condition, it has been reported that Mighty Eli passed away on March 16, 2017.
The news of Eli's passing came from his mother, Jan herself.
She posted the following note on Facebook a day after her brave little boy passed away.
"I lost my son last night. Until the very end, he proved to be the mightiest of all warriors. He asked for a drink of water and his heart just stopped. There were no prolonged beeping of monitors or chaos. There was no suffering and I will forever be grateful to God for that mercy given to my dearest precious boy.
My heart is shattered into a million, million pieces and the pain is unspeakable. I know there will be no days ahead of me that I will be 100% happy. But that is okay. I will learn to live with this pain and I will never want to get over it. I will never want to wish this pain to go away. I will never want to forget the heartbreak. Pain will be my constant companion to immortalize my son until it is time for me to join him. And that is okay.