Popular Toti woman dies of rare cancer
FRIENDS of a much-loved Toti resident have reacted in sadness and shock at the death of someone who touched many lives.
Former Kingsway pupil, Riana Moore died on Sunday, 20 October from a rare form of cancer known as Haemophagocytic which attacks the body’s organs. Riana was diagnosed with the illness that affects one-in-fifty thousand people on Friday, 4 October.
The 29-year-old was transferred to Donald Gordon Hospital in Johannesburg where she received six days of aggressive chemotherapy. Following the chemotherapy Riana suffered pneumonia, after which she suffered organ failure and spent three weeks on a ventilator.
Throughout her time in hospital, friends and clients made regular visits to Riana’s bedside, with friends travelling from Toti over the weekends.
“Everyone loved Riana for her spontaneous laugh and she was always such a happy person,” said her mother Louise. Riana had a passion for children and she couldn’t stand seeing them suffer.
Riana graduated from Stellenbosch University with an LLB in 2007 and in May 2010 she was admitted as an attorney into the Pietermaritzburg High Court.
Last June Riana was asked to head-up an office for her law firm, McGregor Erasmus in Sandton.
Friends took to social networking site Facebook with their grief. “God only picks the very best and most beautiful souls and you are that in every way. I am absolutely devastated, heart broken but your suffering is over now my special friend. I will forever Cherish our memories. Party with the angels beautiful,” reads a post from Riana’s good friend Jacqui Pretorius.
“Riana enjoyed her life to the full, always keeping in touch with friends. She just touched so many lives. She was her father Eddie’s blue-eyed girl. Riana was a wonderful child, but felt more like my friend,” said Louise.
A memorial service was held for Riana at the Dutch Reformed Church in Toti on Friday, 1 November. Friends and family gathered at Baggies Beach afterwards to release balloons in her memory.
