We have just been informed by our friends in Sabah that Nurashikin, CWS Malaysia’s first recipient in Sabah passed away on 9/11/09 at the Sabah Women & Children Hospital from complications related to her 2nd relapse of acute lymphoblastic leukemia.
Her wish was fulfilled when we visited her on October 15 and presented her with a portable DVD, DVDs and spent half a day with them shopping and having lunch with the whole family.
God Bless!

Kota Kinabalu: Six-year-old Norashikin was lying on bed at the Hospital Likas’ paediatric care section with her father sitting beside her and wondering why many people were taking her pictures and posing a lot of questions to her father.

In the room were her older sister Nurazila, 8, younger sister Nurafazirah, 4, youngest brother Mohd Abdul, nine months, and mother, Noryanah Muksin, who had just arrived from the kampung.

She recognised a face among the visitors, Dr Ong Eng Joe, who has been monitoring her since she was admitted to the hospital.

But whatever confusion and pain she was suffering, it momentarily vanished when she saw a portable DVD player taken out of a shopping bag.

Her eyes brightened and she quickly struggled to sit up when Alan Yip Hong Kum brought it to her.

It was a truly a wish come true for the Bajau Cagayan girl from Kampung Sikuati, Kudat, who has been suffering from leukaemia since she was diagnosed about three years ago.

Coming from a poor background, her father a fisherman and her mother a full-time homemaker, she has never seen a portable DVD player until she was admitted to the Likas Hospital.

Her mother, Noryanah said some of the children admitted to the hospital brought with them the portable player and this aroused Norashikin’s curiosity and longing to possess the gadget.

“At that time, she could only watch the cartoon movies being played from players that belonged to other children,” she said.

She said among the cartoons that Norashikin really liked to watch were “Tom and Jerry”, “Pingu” and the Malaysian-made animation “Upin”.

Knowing that her daughter really wished for a portable DVD player, Adhari Wali promised her that they would purchase one when they go to Kuala Lumpur.

However, unknown to them, the wheels of motion had already started moving.

Dr Ong, who is in contact with the Children’s Wish Society of Malaysia (CWSM), has been liasing with the Selangor-based organisation and feeding them with information regarding Norashikin and her wish.

Back in KL, board members of CWSM sat down and discussed the girl’s case to determine whether she qualifies to be a recipient of the organisation’s “wish granting commitment”.

After making its decision, the board’s next move was to fix a time where they could surprise the girl and present her with the gift.

And when the day finally arrived, several reporters and photojournalists were invited to attend the simple presentation ceremony.

Bright-eyed Norashikin was all smiles when CWS board member, Alan Yip, asked her what the gift was for she knew deep in her heart that her wish has come true.

Later, after the reporters had finished interviewing her parents, Alan and CWS Vice President-cum-SJ Echo (a Subang Jaya-based free community bulletin) Managing Editor, Teoh Teik Hoong, took the family for a KFC lunch and DVD shopping at 1Borneo Hypermall.

Despite several attempts by the reporters to muster a response from Norashikin, the girl just smiled shyly and let her parents do all the talking.

Norashikin was admitted to the Kudat Hospital in 2006 for the first time after she had a severe fever.

“She had red and blue spots all over her body and after that she couldn’t walk,” her father said, adding she was an in-patient for four weeks at the hospital.

Adhari said on Feb 27 in 2006, she was sent to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) where doctors performed a medical procedure on her to ascertain her illness.

Recently, she underwent 10 operations to get blood samples for testing.

He said Norashikin was given chemotherapy for one year when she had a relapse.

“We had intended to go to KL for Norashikin’s stem cell treatment but because of the relapse, it had to be cancelled,” he said.

Looking at his daughter, he fought to suppress his feelings. “I have been crying a lotÉcuma menangis darah saja tidak (I only didn’t shed tears of blood),” he said.

Noryanah said her daughter was a chubby girl before she got sick but lost weight as a result of the chemotherapy.

She said Norashikin and her father had to return to Likas Hospital once a month or whenever her sickly daughter has a fever.

She said her second child among four siblings is quite choosy when feeding her.

Adhari said it has been really hard on his family since he could not go out to sea, as he had to take care of Norashikin at the hospital.

Luckily, his parents and younger siblings helped a lot in terms of moral and financial support.

He said it takes about more than two hours journey by bus from Sikuati to the Likas Hospital. The fare per person is RM25 for a one-way trip.

While his daughter is sick, he said, Norashikin knows that she has to be careful of what she eats.

“She cannot eat spicy food as well as salty and sour foodÉshe also is very careful when playing with other children her age and she normally puts on a mask,” he said.

Norashikin’s other siblings especially the eldest, Nurazila and her younger sister, Nurafazirah, do not know about her situation because her father doesn’t want to tell them about her sickness.

“Usually, I would tell them that she is getting better,” he said.

But when she is in pain, Adhari said, she would cry for hours which really breaks his and his wife’s hearts.

Teoh said each “wish” forwarded to CWS would be studied on a case-by-case basis.

Each case would to through the vetting process, he said, adding that when it is approved, the organisation would then raise funds to meet the child’s wish.

Norashikin, he said, is the first case in Sabah approved by the CWS since the organisation was formed about one-and-a-half years ago.

So far, he said, they have “granted” the wishes of 14 children throughout Malaysia that included a pair of twins from Miri, Sarawak, who had wished for a laptop each.

“However, we could only grant one laptop to the twins,” he said.

Most of the children, he said, had wished for a PSP game set.

In the case of wheelchair-bound Aiman Hafiz Abdul Halim, 12, his wish was to meet players from his favourite team, Manchester United that was granted when CWS brought Michael Carrick, John O’Shea, Paul Scholes and Ben Foster to see Aiman when the team played in Malaysia recently.

The Children’s Wish Society of Malaysia as its President Tan Sri Ramon Navaratnam described it, is a very new organisation, set up primarily to aid children suffering from terminal and life-threatening illnesses, by granting them a wish.

“Through CWS, we hope to be able to bring as many smiles back to children among us who are suffering from incurable diseases.

“We can give the family some time together by granting a special wish that their child might make.

“It could be a toy, a trip or to meet a special person or celebrity. It allows them to put aside what is on the horizon if only for a short time and this is something worth doing,” he said.

Meanwhile, Norashikin was granted her choice of DVDs, when she chose 10 cartoon DVDs from an outlet at 1Borneo Hypermall.(Sabah Daily Express - http://www.dailyexpress.com.my/news.cfm?NewsID=68212)

Aided looking happy with his new PSP presented by CWS Malaysia

PETALING JAYA: Nine-year-old leukemia patient Aided Asyraf has every reason to celebrate this Hari Raya despite having to cope with his illness.

This festive season, he is probably very busy enjoying his new Sony PSP in his hometown in Alor Setar, Kedah, presented to him by the Children’s Wish Society of Malaysia (CWS).

Aided has been suffering from leukemia since he was 5. He was in Universiti Malaya Medical Centre recently for chemotherapy to treat his remission when he was identified by CWS as a recipient.

His father, Lans Korporal Zainuddin Abdullah, a police officer attached to the Kedah police contingent, said Aided had asked for a PSP a long time ago but the family could not afford one.

“I am so happy CWS has fulfilled his wish to have this. It is his first PSP. It was a surprise for Aided,” he said.

According to Zainuddin, the PSP set is keeping Aided occupied daily.

CWS Malaysia board member Alan Yip sharing a few intimate moments with Aided who is seen here looking at his new Sony PSP

If the recent chemotherapy is successful, Aided may be able to go for a bone marrow transplant which would give him a fighting chance to overcome the illness.

“Aided has not been attending school this year because of his condition. If the chemotherapy is successful, his elder brother is the potential donor,” Zainuddin said, adding that Aided has two younger sisters.

When CWS board members Lim Ai Mee and Alan Yip made a visit to the hospital ward to bring the Raya present for Aided, he looked surprised. The surprised look on his face immediately turned into a broad smile when he realized what it was.

“We are happy to be able to bring a smile to Aided and his family with this gift. It means a lot to us to be able to add a spark of light to fulfill his wish,” CWS president Tan Sri Ramon Navaratnam said.

CWS Malaysia is a national charity dedicated to fulfilling wishes of children who are faced with life-threatening and terminal diseases in the country.

For more information on CWS Malaysia, check out http://www.cwsmalaysia.com or email us at cwsmalaysia@cwsmalaysia.com

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