Inayah's Story

On 30th October 2018, our 3 year old daughter, Inayah, suddenly became ill with a high temperature and vomiting.

At first we thought it was just the vomiting bug. She stopped eating and drinking and medicine couldn't reduce her temperature.

We took her to Royal Manchester Childrens Hospital to get her checked out. Initially, we were told she was dehydrated and they put her on fluids and kept her overnight.

The next day, after her blood test results came back, we were given the shocking news that no parents wants to hear - Inayah had blood cancer (leukaemia). Further tests revealed that the leukaemia had spread to her brain, which is why she was vomiting and couldn't hold down any food or liquid.

Treatment would involve six rounds of intense chemotherapy. The first round of chemo was started immediately in early November. Inayah lost her beautiful hair, she had terrible mouth and bum sores and had very high temperature for days due to infection. At times we wondered whether the treatment was worse than the disease. However, she finally managed to pull through. She was far from being a typical 3 year old, but we were so happy to see her smile again and playing when she had the energy.

We dreaded the start of the second round of chemo due in December. We were hoping that the side affects of the chemo drugs wouldn't be as bad as the first round. Unfortunately, Inayah developed a complication with fluid inside her lungs. She had surgery to remove the fluid from her lungs and was transferred to intensive care unit on the 1st January 2019. She was put on a ventilator that would breathe for her, until she recovered.

She was under heavy sedation, so we couldn't even communicate with her. For next 5 weeks, Inayah battled with infections, fluid retention in her whole body, kidney failure. She was a fighter, but her heart couldn't take it anymore and she sadly passed away on 8th February 2019.

We miss her so much. She will stay in our hearts 💕 forever