Aussie mum's heartbreaking tribute after girl, 5, with brain tumour dies in Mexico
The Perth mother of a little girl who died after receiving controversial treatment for an inoperable brain tumour in Mexico has shared a heartbreaking message to her daughter after waking up for the first time without her.
Five-year-old Annabelle was not meant to live past her fourth birthday after she was diagnosed with a rare and incurable brain tumour.
Her parents, Sandy and Choong Nguyen, sold everything – including their home – to fly to Mexico so Annabelle could undergo experimental cancer treatment.
Ms Nguyen confirmed her daughter had lost her battle on Thursday, saying Annabelle died “peacefully in my arms this morning”.
Waking up for the first time without her girl, Ms Nguyen shared a heartbreaking message to her daughter on Facebook on Friday.
“Annabelle, it is the first day I won’t get to see your beautiful face anymore.”
In the post, accompanying a beautiful picture of the family, Ms Nguyen shared the pain of hearing her other daughter, Alyssa, talk about how her sister was not coming home.
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Her mum said Alyssa told her: “Annabelle is not here anymore, she is in the sky.”
“My heart shrank. We’ve not [had] the courage to tell her yet. We don’t know how and where to start but how did she know?” the grieving mum said.
She ended the post with a poignant farewell to her baby girl, saying: “Annabelle, you’re very loved. We love you very much Annabelle, rest now baby.
“You are free now, no more cancer, no more pain and no longer trap in your own body.”
Doctors in Mexico’s Monterrey injected her with a mix of chemotherapy drugs through a catheter inserted in an artery, which was sent to the tumour lodged in her brain.
Australian doctors urged caution, saying the treatment was unproven, expensive and risky – with no studies to back it up.
In February this year doctors said her scans were clear, but just three months later the little girl was in a coma that she never woke up from.
