Cape Town - Naaziyah Manuel, the 11-year-old Mitchells Plain girl, has died after facing a six-month battle with cancer.
Four months ago, the Cape Argus reported on a fundraising campaign her family had started in order to secure money for her treatment.
On Wednesday, her father, Moenieb Amien, confirmed Naaziyah died in her hospital bed at the Red Cross Children’s Hospital on Monday at about 11.30pm.
“Naaziyah was with her mother at the time of her death. The two of them were alone in the room and my wife told her that we love her, that she shouldn’t worry about us and that it was okay to let go; she could be our guardian angel.
“After hearing those words from her mother, Naaziyah let out a loud moaning sound and a tear went down her face. My wife wiped her eyes and she let go.
“That was the strongest connection my wife and her have had in a long time. She died peacefully and did not appear to be in excruciating pain as she was sedated,” Amien said.
On the day of her death, Amien said friends and family had spent the day visiting her at the hospital.
He said it was during the time he had gone to freshen up at home that he received a call from his wife, Zerina Manuel.
“This is not something a person can prepare himself for.
“The journey Naaziyah went through was hard. When doctors put her on the strongest form of chemotherapy and it didn’t work, we knew that all that doctors were doing was buying us more time with her.”
Amien said the doctor’s prognosis was that Naaziyah had three to six months to live. She died within three months.
“It would be selfish of us to want her to be here if she was in pain.
“We still miss her and it’s the little things she did that we keep thinking of the most. Like how loud she would laugh, how she loved jumping around, her overprotective love for her little brother, the way she often helped us around at home and our Sunday family movie moments.
“She was such a great daughter with a happy welcoming face,” said Amien.
Naaziyah’s life took a drastic turn, last year, when doctors discovered a 2.8kg tumour on one of her ovaries.
Although the tumour was safely removed, it had released cancerous cells into her blood and in February she was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer.
Cape Argus