Helicopter ride for toddler battling childhood cancer
“I was initially asked to meet with them to support them and run them through how difficult things were. Instead, I decided to try and organise something special for them because they have spent so much time over the past few months in hospital,”
A four-year-old toddler battling cancer and her family from the north of Pretoria was treated to a helicopter ride – all thanks to a do-gooder who had walked in their shoes years earlier.
“One of my twin daughters had cancer when she was also four years old, so I know what they are going through and how difficult it can sometimes get,” Susan Kloppers told Rekord.
Kloppers organised a helicopter ride above the city and an intimate lunch for Marquesha Pienaar and her parents last week.
Kloppers called in the help of Powered Flight Training Centre and Villa San Giovanni Restaurant, both at the Wonderboom national airport.
Kloppers’ daughter lost her battle to the disease five years ago.
“I was initially asked to meet with them to support them and run them through how difficult things were. Instead, I decided to try and organise something special for them because they have spent so much time over the past few months in hospital,” she explained.
The toddler’s father Jacques Pienaar said their daughter was diagnosed with a yolk-cell tumour, also referred to as a teratoma, in February 2020.
A teratoma was defined as a rare type of tumour that contained fully developed tissues and organs which included hair, teeth, muscle and bone.
“We started going from doctor to doctor to find out what was wrong with her,” he said.
Through a referral to an oncologist in the east of Pretoria by his boss, they were finally able to get a diagnosis.
“The doctor we went to told us to be at Steve Biko academic hospital the following day, and since then things have been a lot better.”
Pienaar said their daughter started with chemotherapy and continued with it for around seven months until the doctors could attempt to remove the tumour.
However, the toddler’s cancer count increased and led to an intensified dosage of chemotherapy.
In February, her mother Marilize said doctors decided against a second operation as the tumour had reportedly spread.
“We then started with radiation in March, and did 28 sessions until last month,” she said.
Now the family must wait for six weeks to pass before an MRI could be done to determine if it had been successful.
Marilize said while battling everything with her daughter, things took another knock when she was retrenched in 2020, and their house was sold.
“We’ve taken a huge knock and now we largely rely on assistance from our parents, who have since taken us in since our house is now in boxes, in a garage,” she said.
“What’s getting us down now is that we struggle to give Marquesha everything that she wants, we can only try to give her the necessities.”
Those who wish to extend a helping hand to the Pienaar family may contact Marilise via email on marilizedeklerk@yahoo.com.
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