In December last year, Abheelash Arunkumar was excited to start secondary school after learning that he had scored 6As in his UPSR exams. However, his dreams were dashed when he was suddenly diagnosed with an aggressive form of brain cancer called glioblastoma multiforme (GBM).

The 12-year-old former student from SJK(C) Wu Teck in Klang first complained about headaches on the morning that he was supposed to collect his UPSR results.

His mother, Parvin, initially thought it was caused by pre-results nerves and she later got new glasses for him, thinking the continued headaches were due to worsening eyesight.

However, when the headaches persisted, she brought Abheelash, who is fondly known as Abhee, to a hospital where a CT scan revealed that he had a brain tumour. Shortly after, he was diagnosed with GBM.

"Normally, Abhee is just like any other normal child, but there are times when he has difficulty remembering things immediately.

"But in the last few days, he started the radiotherapy treatment and he has been in very severe pain.

"He has gone for his second radiotherapy session today. He is also going through immunotherapy," Abheelash's grandmother S Mariammah said to Malaysiakini today.

Mariammah added they had to travel to Malacca every day for the treatment as only a facility there could accommodate them on such short notice. 

This treatment comes after a surgery he had undergone on Dec 13 last year to remove part of the tumour.

In a video posted on the Facebook page 'Let's Fight Cancer with Abheelash', Parvin said she was shocked when her son was diagnosed with GBM.

"He has three months to live (according to the doctors). All prognosis for GBM is poor," Parvin said in the video.

Meanwhile, Abheelash's grandmother described him to Malaysiakini as a brilliant and active child who enjoys playing football, basketball, chess and video games. He will be turning 13 on March 8.

Recently, Abheelash, who has two younger sisters, was among the group of children who distributed copies of a memorandum against child marriage to lawmakers at the Parliament, she said.

Mariammah added that the family spent RM50,000 for the first surgery in December last year.

They are expecting the immunotherapy treatment to cost RM350,000 while radiotherapy is another RM32,000, she said, adding they had no choice but to seek treatment at private healthcare facilities despite the sky-high cost as the waiting list at public hospitals was too long.

Donation drive

As such, the family has launched a donation drive today through the Facebook page.

Parvin said they hoped to seek donations from the public to help fund her Abheelash's medical treatment.

A photo of a receipt for his first immunotherapy session costing RM16,858.70 was posted on the Facebook page, along with photos of his medical reports and his latest MRI that shows his tumour.

There are also pictures of him in the hospital after his surgery in December.

Abheelash's family is appealing to the public for help and all donations can be channelled to the OCBC Bank Bhd account number 7052679443.

"The fund will be used prudently and solely for Abhee's medical expenses and treatments," a post on the Facebook page read.