KINGSTON, Jamaica — At only four years of age, Khaleah Brown has been diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia, a cancer that mostly affects children and is curable with urgent medical care.

Khaleah initially complained about pain in her leg late last year which led to a series of doctor visits and blood tests in January. With the tests revealing nothing of concern for the doctors, Khaleah was sent home, her parents assured by the medical professionals that their daughter’s condition would improve.

However, less than a month later, Khaleah stopped walking.

Now, her parents are in a race against time to raise US$100,000 for her treatment at the Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital in Miami, Florida.

A GoFundMe has been created for the cause and those wishing to donate can do so via the account.

So far, US$6,180 has been raised from 93 donations.

Her mother, Philisha Morgan, is pleading with Jamaicans for their support in her daughter’s fight against cancer which she said has been devastating for the family.

“It has taken a toll on us because the initial signs we saw from about October last year and we were back and forth from doctors to doctors because initially she had issues with her leg and eventually she stopped walking. She hasn’t walked since February of this year,” Morgan shared.

“When she started having issues with her legs, we were concerned. She started getting some lymph stuff and when we brought her to the private doctors they weren’t able to tell us what the issue was. We had to basically ask them to do a series of blood test and when we got back those blood tests it’s like the doctors were saying that they were fine.

“These blood tests were done in January and around February she stopped walking completely and we became more concerned. We took her to a local private hospital and they were baffled as well, they weren’t sure what the issue was and that’s when we were referred to a public hospital in Montego Bay,” she continued.

Morgan said they then presented the doctors with the series of blood tests previously done and with some follow up questions. Khaleah was then misdiagnosed with Lupus.

“So on March 24, she was diagnosed with Lupus and started treatment…I think from March 24 to about April 18, she was being treated for Lupus…They did a biopsy on April 8 which they took out her lymph node from her neck and tested them to see if they could actually find anything but those results weren’t showing anything,” Morgan explained.

The distressed mother said more blood tests were repeated while Khaleah was undergoing treatment for Lupus, however, those tests came back negative for autoimmune diseases.

“About three to four weeks she was being treated for Lupus so when those tests came back they decided on April 19 to do what they called a bone marrow biopsy and aspiration and that is when they found out that it was now some form of cancer likely to be lymphoblastic leukemia,” Morgan said, adding that her daughter was officially diagnosed with the cancer in April.

Khaleah is now being treated at the Bustamante Hospital in Kingston, which has posed a commuting challenge for the St James residents.

“It’s a little bit hard because her father and I live in Montego Bay. She’s being treated in Kingston and it’s just both of us back and forth. We get support via calls and so but in terms of her family being there, it’s tough,” Morgan shared with Observer Online while travelling on the Knutsford Express.

The status of Khaleah’s current treatment is still unknown.

“The doctors are saying that we should look for additional treatment options because her body might not react to the medication as they want it to. Her body wasn’t really reacting how it should with the initial treatment which started Monday, 26th of April. Her blood count was falling, she had a fever, things like that. Her blood count keep falling which could indicate her body is not responding to the treatment.

“There are some tests that needed to be done to see where she’s at in terms of how the treatment is working. They were unable to do those tests due to the low platelets so they are not 100 per cent sure where she’s at in terms of if she is responding well or not to the treatment,” Morgan explained.

The concerned mother added that, “It’s a possibility that the treatment might not work and she would need to look at other options such as bone marrow transplants, stuff like that and the resources that are available here are limited in regards to her treatment.”