Malakai's Journey - Support for the Lemalu-Watkin whānau/aiga

At the end of August Malakai was still struggling with what he thought was a basketball injury to his leg, he was seen by a doctor and physio who all said it was a ligament injury so they booked him an Xray after 5 weeks to see what was going on. The radiologist immediately sent Malakai and Vini from the after hours to the hospital for more tests where it was revealed that they suspected a bone infection or tumor in the femur. The last few weeks has been constant tests and a biopsy revealed that Malakai in fact has Osteosarcoma - a rare form of bone cancer that only occurs in 3-4 per 1,000,000 people.

Sadly some nodules have been found in his lungs so Malakai has an intensive & aggressive treatment plan which starts Monday 12 Sept that will require 3 months of high dose chemotherapy, then a major surgery to remove all the effected bone and his knee which will be replaced with metal rods & joints; he will then need to under-go another 3 months of chemotherapy to clear out any remaining cancer cells.

Malakai will be required to be an inpatient at the hospital for at least 26 weeks. He has taken all this news amazingly and has been so strong and positive.

As some of you may know, Vini and Nose were met with the unexpected news a few months ago that they were expecting their 4th blessing, a baby girl due 5 October, now only a few weeks away.

With a new baby, maternity leave and someone required to be at the hospital 24/7 with Malakai, financial pressures are imminent.

Together our whānau will support Novena and Vinimoa to the best of our ability but we are aware there are many of you who love this whānau/aiga too and want to support them just as they have with their kindness and generosity to so many others. They really have struggled with the idea of this page however accept that others wish to support them to provide for and protect their family.

A heartfelt thank you from us all to everyone who has already shared their love with koha, kai, gifts, visits, messages of support and karakia.