My Name is Rosamie Salido, I live in Preston, Lancashire, United Kingdom and I am Ella’s Auntie.

Ella is my sister’s only child, they live in a rural area in the Philippines. She is a very religious, vibrant, and loving young girl. She loves singing, dancing and hanging out with her cousins at their grandma’s house. Ella is turning 14 next week (March 22, 2018). She is a girl with full of dreams in life. A consistent honor student who dreamed of becoming a Doctor someday so she can help a community where some of the patients die without seeing a doctor due to poverty.

Ella’s condition started middle of December 2017 with symptoms of cough and colds. Her Mum and Dad took her to a doctor which means they must travel for an hour to reach a children’s clinic. A course of antibiotics was prescribed for chest infection. Despite of all the medications, Ella’s condition worsened as she was persistently coughing which led to her becoming weak due to lack of sleep and loss of appetite. Ella was admitted in a community hospital in a nearby town for two weeks this January. Due to lack of medical facilities, Ella’s parents were advised to take her to bigger hospitals in Davao City where they must travel by car for four hours. A series of diagnostic tests was carried out to explain what was wrong with Ella’s condition which was the worst news our family have ever received in our entire lives.

Ella recently got diagnosed with a very rare type of cancer for children. A type of cancer that starts in cells called lymphocytes which are part of the body’s immune system. This means that Ella’s body is fighting against her immune system. We need your help to pay for the four treatments that she needs over the next few weeks. Her condition worsened very quickly as previously there were no clear signs that she had cancer since she was still very active and could complete her daily activities as she normally did. She had been hospitalized in Southern Philippines Medical Centre around the beginning of February 2018 because she suddenly became very weak and even then, it was unclear to the doctors what was happening in her body but they eventually found a mass growing behind the upper part of her breast bone and in front of her lungs and heart which is how they were able to confirm that she has Non Hodgekin’s Lymphoma vs Thymuma. This was incredibly shocking for the family as Ella has never had any major health issues as she has otherwise been very healthy.

Ella lives in the Philippines therefore the full cost of the treatment must be covered with very little aid from the government so we are now turning to you to help with the payments and help Ella fight against cancer. Ella’s birthday will be coming up in the latter end of March and the best gift you could give her is donating to this cause. She is still very young and has a long life ahead of her and we want to see her survive through this inconceivably difficult period in her life and grow up to be a healthy wonderful person.

The doctor has said that Ella has a 60% chance of survival at this point in her treatment however we would like to see her survival chance at 100%. The Oncology doctors who looked after Ella had recommended for a medication called Rituximab in combination with chemotherapy. They explained to Ella’s parents that it is the most suitable treatment for this type of cancer and studies shows that every treatment will add 10% to Ella’s survival. Ella needs four sessions of Rituximab + chemotherapy to prevent the tumor from spreading throughout her body, this would greatly help her as it means there is less risk of the condition becoming worse. Each treatment would cost 93,000.00 pesos in Philippine money (£1,300.00). Your donation would be put towards the payment of these four chemotherapy sessions which could potentially change Ella’s life for the better and end the pain that she is going through.

It isn’t in her nature to give up, she is an incredibly considerate and selfless person, she had already felt pain in her back previously, which is a symptom of the cancer, but hadn’t told anyone as she didn’t want them to worry about her. Despite the pain, she continued to struggle and posted a smile on facebook trying to be strong to reassure everyone who loves her that she is ok and ready to stand up against cancer! There are many people who love and care for Ella however, they cannot handle the financial strain that the treatments are putting them through. The Philippines doesn’t have a big organization like the National Health Service (NHS) in the United Kingdom in which people are able to get the help they need quickly without having to worry about the cost. After all, we all know that a life is worth more than any amount of money. Ella is also an only child; therefore, her parents treasure her more than anything else in their lives and many of you may be able to imagine the pain that losing a child could cause. No parent should ever have to see their child suffering like Ella is, so please donate.

Thank you very much for reading about Ella’s story and her fight against cancer, this is just the beginning, she won’t give up and neither will we. Please donate whatever amount you can afford, we will be tremendously grateful for any help that you can offer to her.