Please help Precious fight brain tumor

My name is Mirabelle and I am a Cameroonian living in Australia. I write to introduce to you a 22-year-old Cameroonian girl named Precious, who was diagnosed with a brain tumor in 2018, and has since then lived with excruciating pains yet she remains ever hopeful. Living with this condition, Precious has been experiencing constant severe headaches which worsen with any kind of physical activity, fatigue, body weakness and loss of balance, change in speech (speech impairment), difficulty swallowing, poor hand coordination, and above all, constant seizures. Precious was only 19 as at the time of her first diagnosis and she had just completed high school, making exceptional results in her Advance Level Examination. However, her health condition made it near impossible for her to pursue a university degree in Educational Psychology which had been her dream. With my support and that of her struggling mother, Precious has been on medications that help control some of the brain tumor symptoms, hence lessening her pain. Nevertheless, the tumor keeps progressing and has now gotten to a stage where the medications are no longer effective. May I please mention here that it has been a real struggle keeping her on these medications as they are extremely expensive in Cameroon where she resides.

During her last visit to the neurosurgery unit of the Yaounde General Hospital, her neurologists advised that a brain surgery is urgently needed since she risks losing her sight in a short while due to the continuous growth of the tumor. The neurologist also mentioned that Precious' current condition is beyond what they can handle in Cameroon, thus he further advised that Precious be flown abroad (possibly India) for surgery. The sad news is that her family is unable to afford such a trip and medical bills. Meanwhile, her health has continued to deteriorate, leaving her incapacitated and unable to lead a normal life. What moved me to seek help on her behalf by creating a GoFundMe account is the courage, strength, and tenacity displayed by this little girl, against all the odds. 

Late last year, undeterred by her health condition and inabilities, Precious decided to pursue her long-desired university degree in Educational Psychology. In a WhatsApp message to me, she said the following: “In the absence of money to fund my brain surgery, please support me achieve my educational dream even though the tumor might cut short my life at any time… Going to school will keep me happy for the time being before the worse happens”. I read her touching message with eyes full of tears and I made up my mind not only to support her achieve her educational dream, but also to go to any length morally and legally permissible to sponsor her brain surgery. I have successfully enrolled her for a bachelor’s degree program in Educational Psychology at the University of Bamenda-Cameroon. She has been attending school, albeit intermittently due to failing health. Thankfully, her university completely understands her health situation and treats her as a special needs student (for instance, they accommodate her absences and allow her take oral exams since she is unable to write nor type). However, for the past two weeks, Precious has unfortunately experienced a health breakdown which has now kept her away from school for that long.

I am only able to pay Precious’ school fees and support in buying the medicines sustaining her at the moment, but as meagre as my resources are, I am unable to sponsor her urgently needed brain surgery. I write to appeal to all well-meaning citizens of the world to make donations towards Precious’ brain surgery. Collectively, we can help save the life of this determined young girl and bring her closer to her dreams. 

For more information on Precious’ health status, I am attaching her medical reports, MRI scans, and yet another report from the university’s health division to her faculty requesting that Precious be given special assistance in the course of her studies. Also, the profile photo of this page is a photo of Precious outside a lecture hall in her university in Cameroon, taken in January 2021.

Your generous donations will be much appreciated.

Kind regards,

Mirabelle