Story
In 2017, 5 year old Kaiya Patel from Rickmansworth was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia. To survive, Kaiya was in desperate need of a stem cell transplant. Her family launched a huge awareness campaign, appealing for members of the South Asian community to have their blood tested to see if they would be suitable donors. Kaiya’s story touched the hearts of many and over 40,000 new donors registered as a result of the “Cure Kaiya” campaign. A donor was found and Kaiya underwent a transplant at Great Ormond Street in August 2018. But after the operation she contracted the adenovirus in hospital which attacked her kidneys and liver. Kaiya fought an incredible battle lasting longer than any other child treated for the same affliction but she could not overcome the virus due to her depleted immune system and passed away in January 2019 . Kaiya has left an everlasting mark on each of us who were lucky enough to have known her and all those who heard her story. Though she is no longer with us her message and hard work to help others in a similar situations and raise awareness for cancer research and the importance of registering as a donor must go on. In memory of Kaiya, a group of us running, walking or cycling 8km each day for the month of September and are asking friends, and family to support us in raising funds towards children’s cancers to support all those brave children and their families. Thank you so much for your time and reading our message.