My mother, Lilly Rohinton Kerawalla Homi, is 62 years old and has spent her life trying to make the world a happier place.

She raised two children alone from the age of 24. She trained in classical Indian dance from the age of four. She is a professional singer, a Certified Laughter Yoga Leader, an Access Consciousness facilitator, and the founder of Happy Wealthy Lilly — a platform through which she has coached, healed, and brought joy to people across the globe. Joy was not just something she believed in. It was her profession, her mission, and her identity.

In 2023, she travelled to Mumbai to attend the Laughter Yoga World Conference. It was exactly the kind of work she lived for.

On the way home, at Mumbai airport, waiting to board her flight back to Dubai, she collapsed. There was a large pool of blood. Ground staff called emergency services and then called us — her two children, one in Canada and the other in Dubai — to tell us our mother had fallen unconscious at the departure gate.

My sister and I received those phone calls separately. Neither of us knew what we were about to be told.

She was rushed to hospital in Mumbai. A CT scan revealed cancer. She had been experiencing pain for years — quietly, without telling us how serious it was, taking painkillers and carrying on. That was Lilly. She did not want to worry us. By the time the scan results came back, she had Stage 4 cancer.

We both flew to Mumbai immediately. When she was stable, we brought her home to Dubai.

The follow-up scans confirmed everything. Stage 4 metastatic cancer.

A CT scan showed a large infiltrative pelvic mass involving the cervix, uterus, vagina and surrounding tissue, erosion of the left pubic bone, and peritoneal deposits. A whole-body PET/CT scan revealed more than twenty metastatic nodules across both lungs, a deposit in the liver, and bone infiltration.

Her oncologist, Dr. Shaheenah Dawood at Mediclinic City Hospital Dubai, began treatment immediately. We paid for the first course — 18 sessions of chemotherapy — with the generous help and support from her community and friends and family globally at AED 131,052. We had no insurance coverage at the time.

The treatment went well, there were tough times, she once had an allergic reaction to the medication, I was in the room when that happened, it seemed like my mother was dying in front of me, those few moments felt like an eternity. 18 sessions of Taxol and Carboplatin really took a toll on her, She lost all her hair, she became weak but still kept fighting, and when her condition appeared to stabilize, treatment ended. We allowed ourselves, cautiously, to hope.

In 2026, that hope collapsed too.

Lilly was rushed to the emergency room in Dubai, unable to urinate and in severe pain. An ultrasound revealed an 8 x 7 cm mass pressing on her bladder. A catheter was fitted. She was referred urgently to oncology. In the weeks that followed, scans confirmed the full picture — the cancer had returned aggressively.

Between the original cancer treatment, the emergency care, the diagnostics, and the first round of chemotherapy since the recurrence, our family has spent well over AED 286,000. We have nothing left.

The drugs she needs are not experimental. This is the standard of care her oncologist recommends. She is not without hope — but she needs help to access the treatment that hope requires.

My mother collapsed at an airport coming home from a conference dedicated to spreading laughter and joy. She has given that joy to thousands of people over decades. We are asking you to help us give her more time.

Every contribution goes directly toward her treatment at Mediclinic City Hospital, Dubai. Full medical documentation is available on request.

For Lilly.

— The Kerawalla Family