Tuesday 11 December 2012

Giving hope to kids with leukaemia

Leukaemia survivors, patients and their families participated in Walk for Life 2012 to show support for underprivileged children suffering from the disease.

About 3,800 participants took part in the walk, which is part of Tesco Malaysia's efforts to raise RM1mil and help 100 children with leukaemia from underprivileged backgrounds over the course of three years.

Housewife Arbainah Ibrahim has a 13-year-old son who survived acute myeloid leukaemia (AML).

She said many leukaemia patients and their families suffered when a member was diagnosed with the condition.

“Some have to travel far from places like Sabah and Sarawak to seek treatment.

“Some lost their jobs because they had to take care of their sick children. Thankfully, we had insurance for our son,” said the 42-year-old at Bukit Jalil Park yesterday.

She said the family detected her son's leukaemia at an early stage and was thankful that he was now in remission.

Her son Faris Ahmad Irfan Shamsul Akmal said he was excited to return to school after a year of absence.

Nasi lemak seller Zubaidah Kadir, 40, said she was shocked when her five-year-old son Muhammad Faiz Tajudin was diagnosed with leukaemia last year.

“Everything just went downhill from then. We had to fork out our entire savings of RM7,000 for the treatment.

“I had to quit my job working at a factory to take care of him and my other children,” she said, adding that Muhammad Faiz was now in remission.

Tesco Malaysia Corporate Social Responsibility head Lee Ann Low said it had collected RM200,000 since the launch of the campaign in August for University of Malaya Medical Centre.

“The funds will be used to help finance treatment costs as well as help families to bear the transportation costs for the children to receive the necessary treatment,” she said.

Under the theme of “Helping Children with Leukaemia”, the event also featured activities such as a Walk n Hunt, where participants stand a chance to win a year's worth of groceries, a cook-along with celebrity chef Sherson Lian, game stalls and an appearance by cheerleading team Dynamitez.

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