Ashley Cain's daughter, Azaylia Diamond, has such a rare form of cancer that it affects only one in a trillion people. There is no way to treat her aggressive leukemia at this point.
Former soccer player and The Challenge star Ashley Cain has shared a devastating update about his little daughter's health. He took to Instagram to candidly share the heartbreaking news that his 8-month-old daughter, Azaylia Diamond, may have just a few days to live.
Azaylia was only eight weeks old when she was first diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia. The newborn baby girl had to go through three rounds of chemotherapy and a bone marrow transplant. Last month, Cain announced that Azaylia had "gone into full relapse" and the only way to save her would be to fly her to Singapore for treatment, reported the BBC. The family even managed to raise £1.5m ($2m) to get the emergency treatment.
In the emotional video, Cain said that the doctors had found cancerous tumors throughout his baby girl's body. The doctors informed the parents that her leukemia was too rare and aggressive to even treat. "So last week we had the bone marrow test and the lumbar puncture and blood taken to send to Singapore in the hope that they could create therapy to save Azaylia's life," the 30-year-old dad said. "Then we had to have a CT scan on her head and the results came back the next day to say she's got two very big tumors on her brain." The usual chemotherapy that would be given in such instances could not be done for Azaylia because it would cause too much pressure for her.
Cain and his girlfriend Safiyya Vorajee were also told that if they went through with a spinal tap, it could kill the infant. Their world came crashing down when the doctors then told them that Azaylia maybe had one or two days to live. All they could do was take her home and make her feel as comfortable as possible before the inevitable. The strong little girl made it through two nights at home, having spent most of her new life inside the hospital. Parental instincts told them to take her off the pain meds and much to their delight Azaylia became sharper and brighter after it. Cain saw that his daughter was as much a fighter as he was and decided to go back to the hospital to save her life again.
Even though the doctors insisted that she should be taken back to the comfort of her home, Cain knew he could not sit back and watch his daughter die. Together with the doctors, they talked about actionable steps they could take to treat the little fighter. The determined dad finally broke down when he went on to explain that the latest ultrasound results were back. "They found tumors in her stomach and spleen, her lungs and her kidneys, as well as the tumors in her brain and the chemotherapy, is not working," he said through tears. "Her disease is that aggressive that nothing that they are doing, nothing is working."
To make their devastation worse, the doctors from Singapore wrote in to say Azaylia's case was so rare that it affected only one in a trillion people and there was nothing they would do to save her. "She literally is she's so special - but unfortunately so is her disease," a heartbroken Cain said about his precious daughter. Cain and Vorajee are left with no options now but to take their daughter home and give her the best moments while they still can. Cain was determined through his dejection as he said he would put on a brave face for his daughter. He said, "We are going to be strong and we are going to go out with honor."
Vorajee has hailed her baby girl as a "hero" and in a heartbreaking update on Instagram wrote, "I am so proud of my baby girl she has been fighting for so so long and doesn’t deserve this to happen to her! There aren’t enough words out there to describe the heartache and pain I’m feeling but I’m incredibly honored to have become a mummy to my precious girl."
References:
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-coventry-warwickshire-56566578
https://www.thesun.co.uk/tvandshowbiz/14588545/ashley-cain-baby-daughter-days-to-live-tumours/
Cover Image Source: Instagram/mrashleycain