Laali The Cancer Queen’s inspiring story on facing cancer

It’s one thing to hear that someone else is diagnosed with cancer. However, this can be the most devastating news if you fall victim of cancer. People react to cancer diagnosis in different ways.
Take the case of Jackson K. Maina from Kitale who fought the menace to the last of his breath. Never giving up on himself or those around him when he was diagnosed with Stage four metastatic colorectal cancer.
Today, Meet Laali the Cancer queen (Mary Gathoni). Her twitter bio reads; “A girl worth fighting for, a non Hodgkin Lymphoma cancer survivor strongly encouraging other warriors.”
Laali was born in Nyeri in a family of 9 children and was diagnosed with Hodgkin Lymphoma in 2011. Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) is a type of lymphoma in which cancer originates from a specific type of white blood cells called lymphocytes. Symptoms may include fever, night sweats, and weight loss. Often there will be non-painful enlarged lymph nodes in the neck, under the arm, or in the groin.

CHILDHOOD Her childhood was tough as her single mother struggled to put food on the table for nine children. “Many are the times we went to bed hungry. Lucky days, mother could afford one meal for all of us. My father left us when I was in standard six only to return when I was in secondary school.” She says

One day Her father even threw her out of home when he showed up,
“When my father returned, he threw me out of our home. He claimed that I was not part of the family and that I should go look for my real father. I felt suicidal.”

With her world crumbling She decided to leave home for her safety lest things get out of hand at home.
“I left home and went to stay with another family who lived in the same neighborhood. Since I had just cleared by secondary school studies, I decided to look for a job little did I know that I was jumping from the frying pan into the fire. My employer wanted to forcefully marry me off to his drunkard son. I ran away from my work place and later found another job at a hotel.” Laali
THE WORST: NONHODGKIN LYMPHOMA CANCER

Laali did not seem to know what the future held for her as things went from bad to worse. A simple cough and a decision to run few medical checks erupted the dreaded results. She had cancer.
“I remember that day like it was yesterday. I was 20 years and had just sat for my final secondary school examinations. I was in the period of waiting for the results when doctors diagnosed me with the disease. I wished the earth could open and swallow me. The news drained my energy. I thought to myself, I must be cursed and I’ll definitely die. I was traumatized. How could this happen to me at such a tender age just as I was beginning to shape my life?” She said

Laali is currently under costly cancer medication and needs your help.