Little Wafiy is a happy three-year-old boy who lives with his parents and three elder brothers. His father is the sole breadwinner of the family and works as a building technician to support the family while his mother cares for him and his siblings at home. 

All was well till one fateful day in April. Wafiy was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia. Wafiy’s parents were devastated when they heard the news. They did not understand how Wafiy could have Leukaemia as there was no family history of cancer! They were also worried that he may not survive the ordeal. 

To help them cope with their distress, a CCF social worker stepped in to provide counselling and support to Wafiy’s parents. CCF also matched them with a volunteer caregiver buddy so they could hear first-hand the experiences of other caregivers who went through similar situations. For Wafiy, it was difficult for him to understand why he had to be at the hospital and to go through the treatments. A CCF Childlife worker helped Wafiy cope with his medical procedures such as finger pricks and injections through lots of medical and distraction play. Since then, Wafiy has been mentally prepared and coping well with his medical procedures. 

Wafiy’s medical bills were steadily increasing with treatment and frequent hospitalisation. Coupled with additional expenses from lifestyle changes to cope with Wafiy’s condition, the family could barely make ends meet. The care of three other siblings also became a concern as Wafiy’s mother had to be with him whenever he was hospitalised. 

CCF provided Financial Assistance such as monthly food and transport vouchers to help Wafiy’s family cope with some of their day-to-day expenses. Our social worker also referred his siblings to a students’ care centre so that they could receive better after-school care and homework supervision while their mother cared for their youngest brother. 

Currently, Wafiy has completed all his intensive treatments. He is still undergoing outpatient chemotherapy as part of maintenance of his condition but is doing well. Wafiy’s caregivers intend to enrol him into CCF PALS in May 2022 so their little one can have some fun with peers his age.

Read more inspiring stories of our CCF stakeholders at https://www.ccf.org.sg/humansofccf/index.html.