Koha for Kairo- A journey of a young boy's road to recovering from cancer

Tēnā koutou katoa,

My Name is Kairo and I am 6 years old. My Mummy is Jana and my Nana and Papa are Katrina and Pernell.

I have recently been diagnosed with Neuroblastoma which has been found inside my bones. I also have a tumour near my left kidney and spotting on my liver. Over the next 18 months I will be having extensive chemotherapy, radiotherapy, immunotherapy and bone marrow transplants to make me better. However, I am at high risk of infections, therefore, I have to be very careful of not getting any bugs and diseases as my immune system is highly compromised.

I live with my Great Grandma and Papa, Henry and Velma, 2 hours away from Starship. Over Christmas they noticed I was becoming more tired and by the following month, my nana had noticed how much weight I had lost. I tried to go back to school to be with my friends but my teachers too noticed something had changed. My great Grandma took me to the hospital and in a matter of days, I was diagnosed with cancer.

While I am lucky to have the best whānau around me, we know it will be a long and expensive road ahead, between travel, time off work, medications and more.

This page was created by my whānau as a chance for people to hear my story and tautoko if they would like. Thank you for your time reading my journey, well wishes to those who have helped us already and to those that want to koha.

I can’t wait to play with my best friend, Ayush again, go back to school, and just be me.

Arohanui,

Kairo and my whānau.