Ajooni was diagnosed with B-Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia (ALL) in May 2018, 3 weeks before she turned 3.

It took quite a long time to diagnose; as in the beginning doctors thought it was asthma, and Ajooni was given several courses of antibiotics for 6 months. In the lead up to her diagnosis, she had a swollen elbow due to fluid retention in joint and a swollen liver & Spleen. A blood test in A&E and a bone marrow test revealed that she had leukaemia.

She is now at 3 months into a 2 year treatment plan, due to finish in June 2020. Since her diagnosis, Ajooni has endured intense chemotherapy, blood transfusions, spinal taps, high dose steroids, lumbar punctures and many more invasive and toxic interventions. Despite being so sick, she is still finding reasons to smile and laugh and she constantly reminds her mum and dad to keep smiling numerous times in a day. Her energy levels have dipped due to muscle wastage. But she is still in good spirits and is bravely facing the other side effects of chemotherapy. She is moving forward but has a long stretch ahead of her.

She will be receiving ongoing daily chemotherapy, and most of her care will continue as an outpatient. Her parents are striving to give the best treatment and care necessary and the best outcome possible!

She is unable to attend nursery/school due to a weakened immune system. Some of the money raised here will be used to imitate the nursery setting and provide for toys & learning activities to keep her busy and to educate her at home till the time she is ready to return to nursery.

It is a fact, that she is only still alive today, due to the hard work and efforts that have been put into kids Cancer Research over all these years. Today, there is still a 20% chance of cancer returning at the end of the treatment. We hope tomorrow, with more research, blood cancer will only be a disease that requires treatment and then a whole new life ahead.

If front line treatment fails at end of two years or if ALL is aggressive from the beginning, children need a stem cell/bone marrow transplant to stand a chance of overcoming this disease.

In the UK, 400 children are diagnosed with ALL every year. There are over 8 million potential donors registered with the DKMS and they have successfully found over 69,000 matches and given blood cancer patients a second chance of life. Their worldwide search for new donors continues especially in the BAME communities where there is currently only a 20.5% chance of finding a match compared to 69% from a white background.

According to the International bone marrow register, Black, Asian and other minority ethnic (BAME) backgrounds are the most underrepresented and urgently require more Asians to register and take a simple cheek swab – a process that takes seconds that could save someone’s life. Each swab kit costs £40.

Your donation will cover ongoing costs, things needed for her or costs which may develop as the treatment progresses for next two years. The remaining amount will be split in half between DKMS (Delete Blood Cancer UK) and GOSH (Great Ormond Street Hospital). DKMS - to allow them to continue the wonderful work they do , cover costs of kits and help save many more lives) and GOSH - where she has been receiving incredible support and treatment and we would like to give back to GOSH for the amazing work they do.

We also request you to sign up to Antony Nolon or DKMS to become blood stem cell donors. We would be extremely grateful for your support.

Please join Ajooni in this fight, and help to save many other little fighters who deserve to live. Please donate whatever you can and share our page amongst friends and family.