Diana Karupovic is a fighter – but right now she needs all the help she can get.
The 15-year-old Kings Park Copperfield College student has been diagnosed with stage 4 glioblastoma multiform brain cancer and her friends and family are raising money for a life-saving operation.
From age 11, Diana had regular visits to hospital in a bid to explain a series of fainting episodes, but doctors could not find a clear diagnosis. Fifteen months ago, they discovered a 4.5-centimetre tumour on her brain.
“I was a pretty normal kid before, pretty chilled, played XBox,” Diana said. “It came as a bit of a shock.”
Diana had an operation to remove about 80 per cent of the tumour, followed by six weeks of radiotherapy.
She progressed well for more than a year, until recently.
“She had an MRI every three months since the operation, and they were all fine, but just before the last one in March she started to feel unwell again,” her mum, Beba said.
“She couldn’t walk properly, she had low blood pressure and double vision … that scan in March showed that it [the cancer] had come back and spread.”
The scan showed the tumour had grown and spread to Diana’s spine.
The family has turned to Sydney surgeon, Dr Charlie Teo, for specialist care. But surgery will cost up to $100,000.
Friends and family have set up a Go Fund Me page and are asking the public for donations.
“The support has been amazing,” Beba said. “All our friends and family are spreading the word – they’re doing everything they possibly can, which has been incredible.”
So far a quarter of the target money has been raised.
Donations can be made at www.gofundme.com/29hvhxp8.
