The coronavirus is affecting our entire country and all areas of the community. Unfortunately, many innocent people are left to suffer – not just those directly affected by this nasty virus.
Cancer patients are among those at high risk of serious illness from an infection because their immune systems are often weakened by their sickness and its treatments.
As a result, many hospitals have imposed visiting restrictions on the wards of cancer patients. Unfortunately, this means that people who are struggling for their lives and need the support of their family more than ever don’t have the chance to meet their loved ones as often.
This is something the Gillingham family painfully experienced. In the weeks leading up to the death of their 7-year-old daughter Aliyanah, she was spending about five days a week in the hospital.
The family, of course, wanted to be as close as possible to their daughter – but under the circumstances, this was impossible.
“The last three weeks, only one of us was able to see here at a time,” Aliyanah’s dad, Chris, told News 5.
Sadly, their daughter passed away on March 28. When the doctors removed her from the ventilator, Chris and Tammi was by Aliyanah’s side – which meant a lot.
“The last weekend she was in the hospital we were actually able to both be there given the special circumstances,” Chris said.
Tammi also opened up about the final heartbreaking final minutes she spent with her precious daughter.
“She had told me, Mommy had done,” Tammi said.
“And her last words to me were ‘Mommy almost done.’ And she looked up to me and she waved at me and said, bye Mommy.”
Tammi and Chris Gillingham’s daughter was diagnosed with cancer last year – at first everyone thought that Aliyanah just had a stomach flu.
But when she got worse and was acting less and less like herself, her mother took her to the hospital. The parents got a shock when doctors came back after looking at X-rays.
“The neurologist came in and was like ‘we have to do the procedure now,’ so it was just like my husband and I even had time to think,” Tammi told News 5 in September 2019.
The young girl was expected to make a full recovery after the surgery, but unfortunately it did happen.
”This has been the hardest 2weeks of my life but I know she is in heaven because of her faith in God and how she acknowledged him everyday she never missed a day of taking the lords supper even on her death bed she asked to take it , but I left the juice in my duffel bag in the car. So as she said bye bye mommy she began waving at something or someone giving them the thumbs up 👍 so I know she is in the arms of Jesus”, Tammi wrote on Facebook after her daughter passed away.
The most painful thing in life, I believe is to lose a child. I am simply reduced to tears. To the mother and the family, I want to give my condolences. I know this sweet little girl is in heaven.
She is no longer in pain. Prayers for the family.🙏🏻❤🙏🏻
