A little cancer fighter passed away on Saturday after a year of battling Rhabdomyosarcoma, a type of cancer that occurs in the ear.
Two-year-old Leah Singh died peacefully at Tygerberg Hospital in the presence of her father Bran-Lee Singh, 27.
Leah appeared in the Daily Voice in July 2019 when her parents said they took her to the doctor, thinking her earache was caused by the flu, only to find out that their only child had cancer.
Leah made a miraculous recovery in April this year, giving renewed hope to her family and medical staff.
She completed her chemotherapy on 16 April and proudly rang the cancer “victory bell”.
But two weeks ago, the cancer came back even more aggressively and on Saturday, she succumbed to the disease.
The little girl would have turned three in October.
Her mom Yvonne tells the Daily Voice that their tiny warrior princess was a borrowed angel who taught them resilience and to always have faith in God.
“In May we went back to hospital for an MRI and she was OK, but she got sick in the last week of July and then the first week of August she started vomiting.”
Yvonne says Leah woke up on 16 August complaining of a headache.
She says they couldn’t figure out what was wrong with her, as she was already free of cancer and showed no signs of it being back.
“She complained that she couldn’t handle the light, we took her into hospital again and the doctors thought it was meningitis.
“The Monday she had a seizure and they took MRI scans again and on 21 August, doctors said [the] cancer is back and spread to the brain and spinal cord.
“They couldn’t do radiation treatment again and we came home and gave her medication.”
The mom says on Friday, Leah had a check-up and had seizures and was admitted again.
On Saturday, she passed away at 1.45pm.
Yvonne says they are satisfied with God’s will: “Leah is free from pain and suffering and is dancing with the angels.
“Her final week with us was amazing, she was quiet but on Thursday she warmed up to everyone and took pics and hugs like she knew she was going and this was her goodbye.”