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David van Niekerk has spent half his young life battling cancer and fighting for the chance to live like a healthy child.
Now, David (6) finally gets to start living without the spectre of leukaemia looming over him.
He was just three years old when he was diagnosed with cancer, just a year after his father, Juan van Niekerk, had suddenly died from a heart attack.
When he was declared cancer-free David celebrated the special moment by ringing the bell at the paediatric oncology unit of Netcare Alberton Hospital – marking the end of his battle against leukaemia.
His mom, Suné Harmse (32), grandmother, Drika Harmse, and family members fought to hold back tears of gratitude as David was presented with a medal by his doctor, Tanya Schickerling, and gifts from Cupcakes of Hope, in recognition of his bravery.
“He even went to school with a shirt which said, 'Leukemia Survivor', and he showed everyone his medal,” his mom says proudly.
His journey to remission was far from easy, says Suné, as she recalls the shock that overcame her when her seemingly healthy son was diagnosed with cancer in 2019.
“David didn’t have any symptoms, but his nails started lifting from the back, which we thought might've been caused by an immune deficiency, or something to do with vitamins that were lacking.”
A pharmacist suggested they see their GP, who then referred them to Dr Schickerling.
The doctor ordered a bone marrow test which confirmed that he had cancer, and on 28 August 2019 David started chemotherapy.
The Benoni family, who had lost David’s dad to a heart attack a year earlier, couldn't understand why this was happening to them.
“You process one thing and the next thing is happening”, Suné says.
In the months before the lockdown, David had to wear a mask wherever he went and he couldn’t play outside with other kids.
His days were filled with countless hospital visits.
“When Covid came, he was actually happy that everyone else had to wear masks too, because he'd been forced to,” his mom, a schoolteacher, says.
She transferred David to her school to make it easier to take him to hospital.
The chemotherapy made him nauseous and he would become fatigued, but a few weeks into the treatment they realised something was wrong when his fatigue intensified.
Doctors performed a lumbar puncture and discovered that the chemo had caused David to become diabetic.
“His insulin levels were very high for a child who was only three years old," Suné says.
He was hospitalised in the intensive care unit for three days and after he was discharged his mom noticed that his leg was turning blue.
Doctors found blood clots in his leg and neck and for the next six months he had to take blood thinners, as well as a 12-month course of insulin to treat his diabetes.
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David never gave up fighting, his mom says, but there were days he couldn't bear to take the chemo tablets.
“Sometimes he’d hide in a cupboard so we couldn't give him the medicine,” she says.
“He’d always find new places to hide.”
Looking back, she's relieved that this chapter of his life is over.
“I think that God helped us through a really tough time, because it felt like it's the longest path that you walk as a mother, to know that your child is sick.”
The support that she received over the years though was heart-warming, she says, especially from her parents, Thys and Drika Harmse, and David’s paternal granny, Catherine Obermyer.
Cupcakes of Hope as well as Rainbow and Smiles, non-profit organisations that support children with cancer, were always ready to lend a hand where needed, she said, like getting David to the hospital or checking in to find out how they were doing.
While David has the all-clear, he still needs to have regular check-ups to ensure the cancer hasn't returned, says his mom, who is confident that he'll stay cancer-free.
“I’m positive that it won’t come back. I’ll believe that.”
