Kaynat is a well travelled young lady. She grew up in Africa where her Mom worked for the United Nations, moving to Canada from Indonesia in 2019. Kaynat was not happy to move to Canada, in fact, her depression saved her life.
Kaynat moved to Canada when she was 14 years old to be reunited with her father who had been living in Montreal for the previous 6 years. Leaving her other friends and family behind in Indonesia, Kaynat fell into a deep depression. She faked headaches so that she didn’t have to go to school. One day, she couldn’t move her left arm. The nurse at the emergency room said that there was nothing wrong but Kaynat’s Mom, Arny, said ‘this is not a normal sickness’ and fought for an MRI which showed a darkness on the brain.
“I didn’t know what a brain tumour was and I didn’t know why my parents were crying” explained Kaynat. The doctors couldn’t say with certainty what type of tumour it was until after surgery, which could not remove it all, as it was so deeply embedded in the brain. Kaynat’s tumour continues to grow. She has now had 3 brain surgeries and is on steroids to slow the growth. The steroids have caused her face to swell.
More traumatic than the brain surgery has been the bullying that Kaynat has been subjected to. Not realizing that she could understand their language, Kaynat heard other kids at school calling her ‘fat and ugly’. Another friend couldn’t understand that Kaynat has short term memory loss. “When I got sick, my friends all left me” Kaynat said. Not all friends though: one friend reached out to ask Kaynat’s side of a story; another friend of the family has become like a sister; another friend has been supportive from day one, even though they live in Texas and they communicate online. Kaynat has also been shown incredible support from her family. One day, when Kaynat had been subjected to cyberbullying, her Dad drove all the way from Toronto between his work shifts to see her for a precious 15 minute visit to bring her comfort. When Kaynat lost her hair, her Dad cut his hair too.
Kindness has manifested itself for this family in multiple ways. The principal of her school came to her house, gave her cards from her school friends, and then came with other teachers to rebuild the patio so that Kaynat can sit outside under a bright sunshine yellow umbrella. Arny is grateful to Childcan, not just for the parking pass that she was provided but for the emotional support she was shown. “We have no family here, the kindness shown by Childcan, the school principal, and Make-A-Wish makes us feel like family. We feel like we are not alone”.
A visit to the Christmas lights in Ilderton last year which was in support of Childcan, also helped Kaynat want to help other kids, to live, to be happy. Kaynat, a talented artist, is now using her art to inspire other people. Next year she plans to focus on health, and she plans to go to college to study psychology. She now believes “someone else might have it worse than me”.
Drawing on their Muslim faith, her Mom said: “Everyone will die someday. Don’t give up. Don’t put a period if God puts a comma on it.”
We are grateful to Kaynat for her gift of the art that we will use for Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, September 2022. Kaynat deliberately used a butterfly to represent hope. She says, “Believe in miracles”. The inscription on the art reads, “Miracles come to those who believe”.
Thank you, Kaynat.
Update, September 2023. We are deeply saddened to hear that Kaynat has passed. Our thoughts remain with her family.