FEATURE: Cape Town teenager needs financial help for cancer treatment
A Cape Town mother is seeking financial assistance to get her daughter the chemotherapy treatment she needs.
CAPE TOWN, May 20 (ANA) – A Cape Town mother is seeking financial assistance to get her daughter the chemotherapy treatment she desperately needs.
Eighteen-year-old Sharon-Rose Brandt from Athlone was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2019. In March that year, her right ovary was removed but the cancer returned a few months later and has since spread to her stomach.
Her mother described the Grade 12 pupil at Alexander Sinton Secondary School as a life driven and positive person and a top academic achiever who dreams of becoming a psychologist.
Sadly, the cancer in her daughter’s stomach has turned into a tumour, a gutted Esther Brandt, aged 38, told the African News Agency (ANA).
Doctors were unable to completely remove the tumour during surgery. The teenager was placed on treatment in 2020 but has been off chemotherapy since then.
“Things were going well, until recently she started experiencing a lot of pain and we went back to hospital where I was told to prepare myself as they have run out of treatments to give her. As a mother I couldn’t just accept that, she is still so young and has so much fight left in her,” Brandt said.
The family then decided to move to a private hospital.
“I saw what happened with my sister-in-law who has breast cancer. She received a rapid response and the medical staff were honest. I thought Sharon-Rose was okay but last month we found out she is at Stage 4 of her cancer,” Brandt told ANA.
The mother of three said the family had seen a specialist who reviewed her daughter’s case and said there was chemotherapy treatment available for her but it would be costly as she would have to be admitted in hospital first in order for doctors to build up her strength.
The hospital stay would cost R3,000 (US$213) a night, excluding the cost of medication and doctors’ fees.
For chemotherapy, the teen would need three cycles, each costing R26,000 (US$1,848).
“I can see her tumour in her stomach. Funds are the only thing holding us back from getting her treatment. Our family has been helping where they can, we have been saving up where we can,” Brandt said.
“I am a housewife and my husband is self-employed but (the Covid-19 pandemic) has slowed business down.”
The family is pleading for donations towards the cost of the teenager’s treatment and have asked those willing and able, to contact Esther Brandt on mobile number 062 543 5385 or make deposits into Sharon-Rose’s Capitec Bank savings account 1735159083.
– African News Agency (ANA), Editing by Stella Mapenzauswa
