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My Kenyan brother Elias is fighting childhood cancer in Nairobi's Texas Cancer Center, my heart is broken, and I am asking for your help.
Elias was one of the 10 brothers and sisters I gained when I moved to Kimana, Kenya in August of 2017. The oldest of the boys living with my host family, Elias had been adopted after his father left and his mother abandoned he and his sister, unable to provide for them. He was adopted by a distant relative, my host mother Mary. When I met Elias he was a shy 13 year old, thankful for the second chance he had been given in life, and determined to create a better life for himself as he grew older. Despite being 14 years my junior, he looked after me like an older brother, always there to help and teach me the ways of life in Kenya. It is worth mentioning that my Kenyan family is those you read about in text book, they live on a few dollars a day to support 10 children and 4 adults. Each and every penny is sacred, and there is nothing extra for luxuries and especially not medical emergencies.
At the end of February, Elias' sister Naiya contacted me, asking for help paying medical bills for headaches, nose bleeds, and eye pain that Elias had been suffering. Fast forward today and Elias has been diagnosed with a cancerous tumor growing inside his sinuses. I won't go through the gory details, but the tumor has actually started to protrude from his eye socket.
Amazingly, the doctors don't believe the cancer has spread further and that with swift intervention Elias will be able to recover. He has begun his first round of chemotherapy in hopes they can shrink the tumor and eventually operate to remove it. There is a long road ahead, but I am hopeful Elias will overcome this most recent obstacle life has thrown at him.
I am asking for your help in paying for his treatment. Doctors at the public hospitals were unable to admit Elias because of the current COVID pandemic, so he was referred to a private self-pay cancer treatment center where he will undoubtedly receive better care, but the cost is much higher. His medical bills today exceed $2,000 and this does not cover the upcoming rounds of chemotherapy, hospital stays, pain management, and eventual surgery to remove the tumor. Anything you can contribute will go towards helping Elias in his fight.
If you would like additional information, doctors notes, photographs, etc. please do not hesitate to reach out. It is also worth mentioning, if you aren't able to contribute financially right now, but know someone who would be able to help, perhaps on the ground in Nairobi/Kimana - please let me know!
Thank you in advance to anyone and everyone for any support you can provide!
Elias was one of the 10 brothers and sisters I gained when I moved to Kimana, Kenya in August of 2017. The oldest of the boys living with my host family, Elias had been adopted after his father left and his mother abandoned he and his sister, unable to provide for them. He was adopted by a distant relative, my host mother Mary. When I met Elias he was a shy 13 year old, thankful for the second chance he had been given in life, and determined to create a better life for himself as he grew older. Despite being 14 years my junior, he looked after me like an older brother, always there to help and teach me the ways of life in Kenya. It is worth mentioning that my Kenyan family is those you read about in text book, they live on a few dollars a day to support 10 children and 4 adults. Each and every penny is sacred, and there is nothing extra for luxuries and especially not medical emergencies.
At the end of February, Elias' sister Naiya contacted me, asking for help paying medical bills for headaches, nose bleeds, and eye pain that Elias had been suffering. Fast forward today and Elias has been diagnosed with a cancerous tumor growing inside his sinuses. I won't go through the gory details, but the tumor has actually started to protrude from his eye socket.
Amazingly, the doctors don't believe the cancer has spread further and that with swift intervention Elias will be able to recover. He has begun his first round of chemotherapy in hopes they can shrink the tumor and eventually operate to remove it. There is a long road ahead, but I am hopeful Elias will overcome this most recent obstacle life has thrown at him.
I am asking for your help in paying for his treatment. Doctors at the public hospitals were unable to admit Elias because of the current COVID pandemic, so he was referred to a private self-pay cancer treatment center where he will undoubtedly receive better care, but the cost is much higher. His medical bills today exceed $2,000 and this does not cover the upcoming rounds of chemotherapy, hospital stays, pain management, and eventual surgery to remove the tumor. Anything you can contribute will go towards helping Elias in his fight.
If you would like additional information, doctors notes, photographs, etc. please do not hesitate to reach out. It is also worth mentioning, if you aren't able to contribute financially right now, but know someone who would be able to help, perhaps on the ground in Nairobi/Kimana - please let me know!
Thank you in advance to anyone and everyone for any support you can provide!