In her favourite dress, Shanaya succumbs to cancer
The Govender family changed their entire life routine, giving up their careers to spend as much time possible with little Shanaya.
Five-year-old Shanaya Govender from Wilgeheuwel has sadly lost her brave fight with Ewing’s Sarcoma.
Shanaya, who turned five in November, took her last breath surrounded by friends and family on 16 May at 7.56am.
Shanaya initially became ill when she was three years old, in April 2017. She woke up in the middle of the night, screaming with pain in her left arm and a fever of 41°C.
She was rushed to the emergency unit of a hospital and referred to an orthopaedic specialist who diagnosed her with osteomyelitis.
After six months of operations and misdiagnoses, she was diagnosed with Ewing’s Sarcoma, a rare type of bone cancer, which had unfortunately spread to both her lungs.
After receiving her diagnosis, she underwent regular blood transfusions and aggressive chemotherapy, but, due to the massive size of her tumor, her left arm had to be amputated..
The Govender family changed their entire life routine, giving up their careers to spend as much time possible with little Shanaya.
Messages of condolences continue to pour in on the Facebook page, Shayana the First vs Ewings Sarcoma, which included messages from close friends, supporters and the Gauteng Masters Volleyball team, to name just a few.
The family has asked the public to bear with them as they prepare for Shanaya’s last rites, dubbing it ‘Her Celebration of Life’.
