A six-year-old Port Elizabeth girl has become the first cancer patient in the Eastern Cape to have a successful bone marrow transplant at a local facility.
Tashnay Memphies received a heart-warming send off at the Port Elizabeth Provincial Hospital's paediatric oncology unit on Monday after undergoing the high risk procedure.
Oncology staff joined Tashnay's family, inlcuding her 10-year-old brother, Jermaine Memphies, who was her stem cell donor, for the send-off.
Her mother, Natasha, said she was grateful to take her daughter home after five weeks of not being able to see her while she recovered from the procedure.
"I was frightened and had a lot of panic attacks," she told Algoa FM News.
"But, the belief was there. I never took my eyes from God and I'm very grateful to him because I've got my child," she said.
The head of the Paediatric Oncology Unit, Dr Johani Vermeulen, said Tashnay was diagnosed with high risk type of leukaemia six months ago, which required a bone marrow transplant.
Vermeulen said having the first successful stem cell procedure was a very emotional moment for her as children living with cancer had to travel out of the province to have the procedure done.
"We really share a dream, not only for children with Cancer but for all the seriously ill children of the Eastern Cape. We think they deserve to get specialist treatment in a centre of excellence as close to home as possible, not having to travel all the way to bigger centres," she said.
"This successful bone marrow transplant just proves that it can be done and that it will further fan the flames of our mission and our vision," said Dr Vermeulen.
