CORNWALL, Ontario – If the cure for cancer is a positive attitude, then Alaya Riley has already got this disease beat.
The well-spoken Cornwall teenager is headed to a Toronto hospital next week for another surgery – it’s her fourth battle with cancer – where she will have more bone removed from her tiny body.
Earlier this year doctors removed three ribs from her in a fight against bone cancer. Next week two more are coming out.
She’s already defeated leukemia twice, and thought she had said goodbye to cancer for now until this year when pain in her ribs led doctor to the diagnosis.
Oh yah…Alaya is just 13 years old, but speaks with the experience of a person that, sadly, already has a world of experience.
“It’s not like this is new to me,” she said matter-of-factly. “When I was told I would have to go through another surgery I was upset…but I kind of tell people this is what I have to do.
“I’m being positive about it, because I know…this is just a small thing I will have to get through.”
Alaya, a Grade 9 student at ecole secondaire La Citadelle, will likely spend about five days in hospital, and will then be subjected to about three months of chemotherapy to ensure any cancer cells left in her body are eradicated.
Alaya has Li-Fraumeni syndrome, which means that her body is without an important cancer fighting gene and leaves her susceptible to the disease.
News like that would make even the hardiest of adults cringe – but she has some advice for them.
“I would tell them this is what you have to do to get better,” she said. “Take out the ‘don’t.’ Tell yourself what you want. And I want to be healthy.”
But while Alaya and her family are putting on a brave face when it comes to cancer, paying bills is another story. Taking time off to care for a sick child resulted in the liquidation of retirement savings.
They received help from the community which allowed them to keep their home and pay living expenses.
This time around Alaya’s father will keep working in order that some income will continue, but the community is rallying around the family again.
A gofundme page has been set up and already generated more than $4,500 in aid.
“All funds will go towards making this treatment easier for Alaya, allowing her to be a regular teenager and helping her family make it through this difficult time without having to be concerned about losing their home or paying their utility bills,” said her aunt Tammy Harrigan, the creator of the page.
