Mum of teen who died after six-week cancer battle in bid to pay for kids' MRI scans
12.10.2023 - 04:31
/ dailyrecord.co.uk
The mum of a teenager who tragically died after a six-week battle with cancer plans to set up a charity in her name to fund free MRI scans for families.
Kaya-Imaani Chambers passed away at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow on May 23 at the age of 18. In the months prior to her death, the engineering student had been suffering from stomach aches, rib pains, an intense cough and had developed lumps in her neck.
The teen, from Newlands in Glasgow, had been going back and forth to her GP about her symptoms but when she started to pass blood in her urine in April she was taken to A&E, where she was prescribed antibiotics.
But several weeks later, Kaya returned to the hospital with a swollen arm and was found to have irregularities in a blood test. A CT and MRI scan then revealed that Kaya, who was otherwise an active teenager, had cancer.
She received the devastating diagnosis on April 14 and was told that she would need to start treatment straight away.
Her heartbroken mum, Donna, 56, told the Record: "Kaya took the diagnosis so bravely, she didn't cry once. I had to put on a brave face, even though it was hard.
"She was so brave, so I had to be, too. She started treatment quickly and we were told it would either be a hit or a miss, they made that very clear."
While medics were not able to distinguish what type of cancer Kaya had, it is thought to have started in her liver and spread to her bones and lungs. She immediately started immunotherapy and was given a daily tablet to treat the disease.
Donna said that her daughter had been responding well to the treatment within the first three weeks and that her sudden death came as a complete shock.
She said: "I didn't expect her to pass away so quickly, especially since