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Gospel singer Ben Kariuki better known as Ben Cyco is in mourning after his sister Joy Kiiru succumbed to cancer on May 10, 2020.
Announcing the devastating news on Instagram, Ben recalled the promises he and his sister had made to each other and their last encounter before her demise.
“Joy, you fought well. You fought a good fight. I remember when cancer relapsed and I had to break the news to you, we made a promise to each other that we would fight to the end, and you did sis, you fought hard.
“I remember setting up a Netflix account for you on your phone on Saturday, so excited that you were not going to be bored anymore little did I know it was our last encounter. Though I'm sad, I'm at peace with the fact that your faith in God was unshaken and now you are in Heaven, You are in a better place Joy. Rest in Peace baby sis, we shall meet again,” he wrote.
READ ALSO: Gospel musician Ben Cyco goes bald in support of ailing sister
Relapse
About two months ago, Ben appealed for financial aid from his online family explaining that Joy’s cancer, Acute Myloid Leukemia had reoccurred and she needed to undergo a bone marrow surgery.
According to Ben, Joy was diagnosed with the disease sometime in 2019 and went to India for further treatment. She responded well to the treatment and was declared cancer-free until recently when the cancer reappeared.
“I really need your help guys! Last year, my small sis was diagnosed with AML (Acute Myloid Leukemia) which is a form of blood cancer. Remember when I had shaved my hair? That was in solidarity with her because she lost all her hair during her chemotherapy sessions in India.
READ ALSO: Ben Cyco appeals for financial help as sister’s cancer recurs
“Fortunately, the chemo was successful and managed to suppress the cancer cells in her body and she was discharged to come back to Kenya. She's continued to be strong in her fight but unfortunately, 8 months down the line and the disease is returning and now we have to get the full treatment which involves the bone marrow transplant and it's really expensive.”
“The thing with AML (Leukemia) is that it's rarely noticeable from the outside, but might be very fatal on the inside (your body). This, however, doesn't discourage us as it's also one of the few curable forms of cancer, just really expensive and that's why I am writing this with a lot of humility and kindly asking for your support,” he wrote.
Diagnosis
READ ALSO: Ben Cyco’s moving message on sister beating cancer
In a previous post, Ben had stated that Joy started experiencing unusual symptoms that prompted them to take her to the hospital, only to be informed that she had cancer.
“My sister has been sick for a while now I think we are talking about 4-5months. It’s been hell, it’s been crazy because of the emotion, there’s something it does to you. She started to have problems with her menses, she’d cramp for 2-3 weeks and rapidly lost weight. She started turning white. Her fingernails, her eyes, her lips, her tongue, that’s when we knew something was wrong and rushed her to the hospital and they did a biopsy test and found out she had cancer,” he said.
Our heartfelt condolences to Ben Cyco and his family.
