Cancer teen's touching tribute to family
Under our "Inspiring People" monthly column, we highlight the incredible journey of one person who has overcome tremendous odds to achieve personal success. This column celebrates the triumph of the human spirit and we hope it will inspire you to reach for your dreams, too. This month, as Yahoo! Singapore raises awareness on childhood cancer, we introduce you to Farah Rosli, a 15-year-old who bravely makes the best out of life after being diagnosed with stage 4 cancer.
She hopes one day to be a music composer, so when she was presented the chance, 15-year-old Farah Rosli created a music video (MTV) for her mother in January this year.
Farah, who has stage-four brain cancer, says the video expresses her appreciation of her family’s strong support for her during hard times.
Under the Children’s Cancer Foundation’s (CCF) Wishlink project, CCF tries to fulfill the favourite wish of children with cancer, who have poor prognosis. The project also seeks to enhance family bonding and create meaningful memories.
Farah was diagnosed with giant cell glioblastoma last June and is not responding to treatment.
When she learnt of the diagnosis, she was shocked and saddened and wondered why this happened, she shares.
Farah, who enjoys watching videos on YouTube and writes poetry to express her feelings, describes the five-month experience creating a MTV as “fun but tiring”.
Once a week, she would meet up with CCF volunteers, who helped train her voice and tailor a poem she wrote into lyrics for the song. The actual filming took three days.
On the first day, she spent about four hours in the studio. She smiles as she recalls having to repeat the song many times because she “made many mistakes”.
The other two days were spent at her home in Bukit Batok, where she and her mother were filmed making sushi, and at Changi Airport and Marina Barrage.
“I’m happy and satisfied (with the MTV). It was better than I expected,” she says.
Farah's longstanding wish was to step into a recording studio and compose a song dedicated to her mother.
Signs that she was unwell started in the first half of 2010, when she experienced weakness in her left leg and headaches. By June, she had crossed eyes and double vision.
Laboratory results showed the then-secondary two student had a malignant brain tumour.
Farah underwent surgery but it was too dangerous to completely remove the tumour entirely because of its location in her brain.
Already, the surgery resulted in Farah losing 30 per cent of movement in the left side of her body.
She cannot uncurl the fingers on her left hand – bringing to a stop the guitar lessons she started just a month before the diagnosis – and walks with a limp.
Farah went through two out of seven cycles of chemotherapy and one cycle of radiation before she stopped chemotherapy because she was not responding to the treatment.
Among childhood cancers, brain tumour is one of two cancers with the lowest overall survival rates.
Farah is currently back on oral chemotherapy to control the growth of her tumour.
Living a changed life
The disease has changed her outlook on life, says Farah, who used to quarrel with her mother frequently.
She says she has become more understanding; her parents say their eldest daughter has matured. They have another three children, 5-year-old twins and a 13-year-old girl.
Farah used to be lazy and stubborn, but now she studies harder for her future, says her father Rosli Mohktar, 42, good-naturedly.
After learning of his daughter’s illness, he quit his longtime job as a shipping officer and now works as a clerk in a law firm. This allows him to spend more time with the family, he says.
“She spends more time at home, studies more. Hopefully she can stay longer,” he adds, quietly acknowledging the uncertain future Farah faces.
“We were told that eight in 10 (patients) will only live for around 12 months. So for her, we just cross our fingers,” he says.
Her mother Norsimah Aman, 38, adds, “She used to be a grumpy person. She’d get irritated easily. But now every night, she hugs and kisses me before sleeping.”
While she initially hid the painful news of cancer from Farah, afraid her daughter would not be able to accept it, Norsimah now says, “She’s even stronger than me”.
Farah carries hope that she can recover full movement in her body and be a “successful person” in the years to come.
“I don’t want to think about it (the cancer). I just live life as per normal,” she states.
Her advice to others in a similar position: “Smile and be happy, don’t think so much. It doesn’t mean just because you have a sickness, you can’t achieve what you want to do in life.”
To support the Yahoo! Purple Hope initiative, go here.
A message from CCF:
Dear Yahoo! readers,
Thank you for your concern, encouragement and support for CCF’s children and their families. We truly appreciate your generous giving to CCF through Yahoo! Purple Hope.
We are grateful to our beneficiaries for consenting to share their stories.The intention is to help raise awareness of childhood cancer and not to garner donations for the individual families. Annually, CCF helps more than 500 children and their families, many of whom are in the same plight as those featured here.
The donations raised through Yahoo! Purple Hope will allow CCF to continue providing critical services to help these children and their families cope with their needs at various stages of their illness.
For any further enquiries, please email to admin@ccf.org.sg or contact Tan Lay Eng/ Koh Yang Cheng at 6593 6478/70.
May our joint efforts assist the children in winning the battle against childhood cancer.
Children’s Cancer Foundation
Related stories:
