Cape Town – Last month Junaid Arendse’s family was told he had two to three weeks to live. But he continues to beat the odds.
On Sunday at their home in Portlands, Mitchells Plain, the seven-year-old was active, walking a short way to a shop to buy doughnuts.
His grandmother, Margeret Arendse, says Junaid has a sweet tooth. He was discharged from hospital just over a week ago, after being admitted for pain and a fever, which had left him frail and tired.
He now takes medication every four hours to keep the pain at bay. Junaid has touched hearts throughout the country in his brave battle against cancer.
“Since Junaid has been out of hospital he has been very active and is playing. He will help me and say ‘Ma, let me sweep the floors for you’, or he takes the mop and mops the floor."
“Then I say ‘thank you Junaid, and here’s a R2, go buy yourself chips’.
“He sits with his books, as if he is missing school. He can’t go to school now in case he hurts himself,” she says.
Junaid has also spent time with his father Marco Erasmus, who has been released after serving two years in prison.
Last week the family enjoyed a visit from Human Settlements Minister Lindiwe Sisulu who lost her husband, Professor Rok Ajulu, to complications linked to pancreatic cancer on December 26 last year.
Junaid was showered with gifts including two remote-controlled cars – a BMW and a Ferrari. A donor has also given Junaid a pair of glasses.
In June 2015 doctors gave Junaid just three months to live after he was diagnosed with stage four neuroblastoma – a solid cancerous tumour that begins in the nerve cells of infants and young children. His only hope was expensive treatment not available in state hospitals.
Thanks to donations from Cape Times readers, friends, supporters and his school, Hazeldene Primary, over R150 000 was raised.
Large amounts were donated by high-profile locals including mayor Patricia de Lille, who donated R25000 to the family, and local comedians who put on a show in aid of Junaid.