KUALA LUMPUR: A 13-year-old girl is facing life in an orphanage after her single-parent mother, who suffers from Stage Four cancer, was told that she only has a few more months to live.
Without losing hope, Kalliswary Chandrasegaran is seeking public help to raise funds for her mother’s continued medical treatment and chemotherapy and to sustain the household.
“We need at least RM1,000 monthly for our expenses, including groceries, utility bills and my mother’s cancer treatment, which includes daily dressings and some pills, which cost RM100 each. I also have to pay for a Grab car to take my mother to the hospital and this costs RM50 daily.
“I can’t push my mother on her wheelchair as the roads to our house are filled with potholes and the wheels sometimes get stuck, forcing me to seek help to free it. My father died in a road crash about 10 years ago and I do not have relatives to live with once my mother is gone. Now, I also need supplies for school, like uniforms, books and stationeries,” she told theSun when met at her house in Kampung Fajar, Ampang.
A Form One student, Kalliswary said she wakes at 7am everyday to prepare food and give her mother medication before proceeding to SMK Taman Melawati.
“My friends and teachers at school know about my situation and some of the teachers have helped me to buy things like adult pampers for my mother and groceries too,” said the teenager, who aspires to be a nurse, but only attends school two or three times a week as her mother sometimes has difficulty breathing and she has to stay behind to take care of her.
A family friend, Kalaivani Paramasiva, 38, said while she tries her best to offer some help to Kalliswary and her 51-year-old mother, Vijayaletchumy Subramaniam, she is unable to provide financial support.
“As a single parent with two daughters myself, I am already stretched thin financially, so there is just so much I can do for Kalliswary and her mother. I wish I could take her in once her mother is gone, but that is not possible considering my financial situation,” said Kalaivani, who works at a legal firm.
Vijayaletchumy said she has been having chemotherapy since 2011 when it was discovered that she had breast cancer. However, the disease has since spread to her neck, nerves and lungs. She currently receives treatment at a government hospital close to her home. But her ailment aside, she said she is more concerned about her daughter.
“I am worried about what will happen to Kalliswary once I am gone. We do not have anyone who can take her in, and our financial burden is too much for me to bear. I am unable to work. So, I receive some financial aid from the Social Welfare Department as well as one-off assistance via the Bantuan Keluarga Malaysia scheme. This is our only income.
“Our village head has very kindly allowed us to live in this house for free for the last three years since learning I developed cancer. The house belongs to him.”
Kalaivani said considering the family’s situation, she has requested help from friends to share Vijayaletchumy’s predicament, and that was when her friend Uthra Kumar shared some videos on social media to highlight the family’s plight.
Despite all their troubles, the mother and daughter still try to have some cheer in their lives. On March 4, Kalliswary celebrated her 13th birthday by cutting a cupcake together with her mother.
Although the family situation is deteriorating day-by-day, the mother and daughter continue to hope the public or charitable organisations will come to their aid. Those keen to help the family can contact Kalaivani Paramasiva at 019-361 7830.
