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  Metros   Delhi  26 Feb 2018  Girl beats cancer, inspires her parents

Girl beats cancer, inspires her parents

THE ASIAN AGE. | RAHUL CHHABRA
Published : Feb 26, 2018, 1:14 am IST
Updated : Feb 26, 2018, 1:14 am IST

Rubina Shapoo, a former television journalist, keenly monitors her daughter Myrrah as she reads a storybook brought from her school.

Myrrah, 12, has just fought off a relapse of blood cancer at a New York centre using a new DNA therapy, inspiring her parents to fund a project in India, in alliance with an NGO Cankids Kidscan, for disadvantaged children.
 Myrrah, 12, has just fought off a relapse of blood cancer at a New York centre using a new DNA therapy, inspiring her parents to fund a project in India, in alliance with an NGO Cankids Kidscan, for disadvantaged children.

New Delhi: Rubina Shapoo, a former television journalist, keenly monitors her daughter Myrrah as she reads a storybook brought from her school. For her, the little girl is a source of inspiration.

Myrrah, 12, has just fought off a relapse of blood cancer at a New York centre using a new DNA therapy, inspiring her parents to fund a project in India, in alliance with an NGO Cankids Kidscan, for disadvantaged children.

“This project is a medium through which I want to give back to the cause only for my daughter and Cankids. We want survival rate of ALL  — Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia (blood cancer) victims up to 85 per cent in India like they are in the USA,” said Ms Shapoo.

Cankids chairman Poonam Bagai said: “Out of the total 70-80,000 new cases of childhood cancer diagnosed in India each year, 45,000 are diagnosed with ALL. There still is a lack of uniform protocol followed by different centres in the country. Our survey in 2014 found that there are as many as nine different protocols, with further variations.”

The Shapoos together with three other ALL parents Rabani Garg, Dr Manish Agarwal and Malika Raghuvanshi, and three ALL childhood cancer survivors and ambassadors have joined doctors in India and overseas to spearhead efforts to help underprivileged kids having blood cancer.

Tags: blood cancer