‘I believe in miracles’: Leukaemia girl

ABU DHABI: Sarah Jean Masinas, 20, always dreamt of a career in psychology. But a cruel twist of fate dealt a deadly blow to her aspirations when she was diagnosed with leukaemia in late 2010.

And just when it looked like her cancer had gone into remission after five chemotherapy sessions at Shaikh Khalifa Medical City (SKMC) in 2011, it began showing signs of relapsing in 2012.

“The need for a bone marrow transplant (BMT) has become more urgent,” wrote Dr David Spence, consultant hematologist at SKMC, in his report last year.

Dr Spence reported that Sarah suffers from acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and after a period of remission, her cancer has shown signs of relapsing.

“It is advised that she seek transplantation in a centre where bone marrow transplantation may be available,” he added.

However, that is easier said than done. A BMT is way beyond the means of Sarah’s parents, who together earn Dh7,500 a month and are neck deep in debt after borrowing heavily for the initial treatment. “I’ve been reading about my condition and I’m realistic about my chances. But I believe in miracles,” said Sarah who was re-admitted to SKMC in August 2012 where she underwent eight additional chemotherapy treatments.

Sarah, who moved to Abu Dhabi when she was 14 and graduated from Pisco Private School, said: “When I get through this ... I want to go back to school to take up psychology and, maybe, counsel people in their hospital beds.”

BMT is a long, complicated and expensive procedure that can cost up to Dh1.4 million in the UK. Their search led the family to hospitals in India, the Philippines and Europe. Uppsala University Hospital in Sweden, about 75km north of Stockholm, showed the most promise after it found nine donors willing to be tested, thanks to its access to an international donors’ registry. Upon her doctors’ advice, the family decided to have it done in Uppsala, but it would cost them Dh900,000. To test just two of the most promising anonymous donors, the family already had to shell out Dh30,000.

Sarah is the younger of two children. When she tested positive for AML in 2010, doctors immediately checked her brother Ram, 21, as a potential source of life-saving sibling bone marrow — but it did not match.

Sarah’s fight has captured the imagination of Abu Dhabi communities, with fund-raisers such as T-shirt sales, photowalks, concerts and appearances by actors.

Help came from families of cancer sufferers too, such as Ganie David, 56, an oil and gas executive who organised a photowalk for Sarah recently. David lost his wife to leukaemia last year.

So far, Sarah’s family has raised Dh450,000 through donations and pledges. “We’re halfway through our target,” said Sarah’s mother Rosalie, a telephone operator.

“If we had found (BMT) donors in India or the Philippines, where the treatment is more affordable, we would have started the treatment already by now.”

Despite the agony, Rosalie is thankful. “Sarah once said: ‘No need to spend more… I’ve got leukaemia. You’ll drown in debt, but I may still die’. But we feel overwhelmed and blessed by numerous people helping us win her fight.”