Name : May Chell
Age : 13 years old (2022)
Illness : bone cancer
Wish : To have a pair of rabbits
May Chell loves playing netball and was just weeks away from the state competition when her right leg started to swell. She persisted with the training and concealed the swelling until a day before the competition when it became too obvious.
After a thorough checkup at the Sabah Women & Children Hospital located 3 hours away, doctors told May Chell and her family the devastating news – May Chell has bone cancer.
Bouts of intensive chemotherapy treatments were prescribed but the stubborn tumour remained. The next solution was to amputate May Chell’s right leg; which brought despair and heartache to May Chell and her family. Despite this devastating news, the family gathered around to lend their support and told May Chell she could perhaps join the Paralympic netball team in the future. To May Chell, this seemed the end of her hopes and dreams.
May Chell’s wish for a pair of rabbits was planned and helped put together by a team of corporate staff who worked on it as part of a Wish Challenge. Some of the ideas they came up with included a custom designed poster with May Chell’s favourite actors (Jackie Chan and P.Ramlee) holding a rabbit each, a colourful and complete book on rabbit care, a personal journal for May Chell to pen her thoughts and hopes during her medical battle, a Rabbit Mama t-shirt & bunny hat to wear when she welcomes her bunnies home!
May Chell cherished these items and started to record her daily activities in the journal even before choosing the rabbits of her choice. This was a much needed distraction to help her overcome the pain and tears during her treatment and long stays in the hospital.
When presented with her bunnies, May Chell named them Mimi and MeiMei and said, “I can’t wait to take care of Mimi & Meimei, and give them so much love!”
According to May Chell’s sister Juraidah, who is also her primary caregiver, “She needed something like the bunnies to take care of and to take comfort in. Just looking at the bunnies eat makes her happy… that smile means so much to us. We stay resilient for her, if we remain strong then May Chell will become stronger,”
May Chell’s wish marks the 700th wish for Make-A-Wish Malaysia.
