Emma gains her wings, loses cancer fight
According to a family member, she had difficulty breathing and her oxygen levels kept dropping.
Brave little cancer sufferer, Emma de Vries, lost her battle against the dreaded disease on Thursday, 8 January.
The Toti toddler, who would have turned two-years-old in February, died at Parklands Hospital between 5pm and 6pm after battling to breath.
Doctors discovered a growth on her brain close to the stem last April.
She had two operations to have the tumour removed, but due to its proximity to her brain stem, not all of it could be removed. She underwent chemotherapy and other treatment in various Durban hospitals over the last year.
Fundraising efforts to help the little girl united the Toti community, with events even hosted as far afield as London.
Emma stopped breathing on Christmas Day and was rushed to hospital where she was resuscitated and stabilised.
She started breathing on her own again with occasional oxygen and was discharged.
On Monday she underwent three days of chemotherapy to try and halt the growth of the tumour, then went back into hospital on Thursday morning as she was suffering from pneumonia.
According to a family member, she had difficulty breathing and her oxygen levels kept dropping. Unfortunately, she did not recover.
“This is a huge shock. Our family is really broken. We have received so many messages of support. The support from the Toti community has been amazing and we have even received messages of condolences from as far as London.
We have lost our precious little fighter, but now she has got her wings.”
