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Public helps raise over R150 000 for Unathi Nkayi’s friend fighting stage 4 cancer
Former 'Idols SA' judge Unathi Nkayi pleaded for the public for help, after her friend's stage four cancer diagnosis.
Unathi Nkayi. Picture: Instagram
Former Metro FM Unathi Nkayi has thanked the public for donating funds after she pleaded for their support, after sharing that a close friend is suffering from cancer.
The singer and TV personality posted on her Instagram account last week, that her friend Pinda Potewela has stage four cancer and is “fighting for her life”.
Cancer fight
A BackABuddy account was set up for people to donate however much they can.
Nkayi wrote: “Tears are rolling down my cheeks as I type this. My chest is wet. She’s not just a Buddy she’s my high school friend and hockey buddy Phinda who has stage IV Cancer and is fighting for her life. Please help us raise funds for her treatment and donate whatever you can. Please go to the BackABuddy website and pledge anything if you have the means to do so.”
A few days later Nkayi thanked people who donated, with the amount reaching over R150 000.
“Thank you [Mzansi] from the bottom of our hearts. THANK YOU.”
The fundraising target was originally R150 000, at the time of writing, the amount is nearly R160 000.
Potewela’s BackABuddy page describes her cancer journey and the road to fighting the disease.
“Pinda started chemotherapy in January 2022 and upon completion, moved on to endocrine therapy. By mid-September 2022 her pleural effusion had not subsided and Pinda was advised to start a second line of chemo. She has valiantly started chemotherapy again, but tumour marker test results from a week ago showed a shocking increase in disease prevalence. As a family, we are shattered but determined to help Pinda in her fight for the improvement of her quality of life.
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“We have investigated the possibilities of an integrative approach including the therapeutic targeting of cancer pathways. We need to give this approach a try because Pinda’s disease continues uncontrolled, despite conventional treatment. Research hints that it’s more effective to combine these treatments so this leaves us with a limited window i.e. while Pinda is on second-line chemo,” the statement reads.
They believe that the therapeutic targeting of cancer pathways is an approach that could help Pinda.
