THE mother of a brave teenager, who lost a kidney but found a way to fight back when he was diagnosed with cancer five years ago, has narrated how her son defied the odds and lived to tell his story.

Even after losing his infected kidney, Donnel Mangoma refused to give up and today he has a refreshing and powerful story which casts a light through the darkness which usually comes with a cancer diagnosis.

Every September, the country marks the Childhood Cancer Awareness Month.

Speaking during a childhood cancer awareness media workshop organised by KidzCan Zimbabwe, Duvai Muzenda narrated how her son was diagnosed with Wilms tumor.

“Donnel was diagnosed with cancer in 2019 when he was 11-years-old, he was doing Grade 6 by then,” she said.

“He just started saying he was experiencing pain on his side, this was not the pain that he would complain about every day.

“At times, it would come once every week and at first I thought he had hurt himself while playing.”

However, one night Donnel experienced excruciating pain and had to be taken to a 24-hour health facility where they were requested to get him tested and scanned.

“When the results came out, the 24-hour health facility referred us to Parirenyatwa. I knew there and then that this was something big,” Muzenda said.

“At this point, my son was struggling to walk, the specialists at Parirenyatwa told us that the child needed an operation because he had a schist on his right kidney.

“Further tests confirmed the schist was a cancerous tumour and they had to remove one of his infected kidneys, and we were told that the cancer was at stage two.”

Donnel stayed in hospital for weeks following surgery.

He has since returned to his normal life.

He is in high school at Murehwa Mission where he participates in numerous sports disciplines, including football, just like any normal and healthy child.

“Donnel now has one kidney and everything is actually fine, he survived cancer and had we gone to the hospital late maybe we would have been told a different story,” she said.

“I am grateful that my child is now cancer-free.”

Muzenda urged parents not to ignore the red flags for childhood cancer as, at times, they may present themselves as ordinary lumps or aches.

According to the Zimbabwe Cancer Registry, common childhood cancers in the country include Acute Leukaemia, also known as blood cancer, CNS tumours or brain and spinal cord tumors.

Wilms Tumor, which affects the kidneys is also known as nephroblastoma, and Retinoblastoma, which is also known as cancer of the eye, are the other cancers.

Parirenyatwa Paediatric Oncology, the biggest Childhood Cancer referral facility, has been recording an increase in childhood cancer diagnosis over the past two years.

Last year, Parirenyatwa Hospital diagnosed 47 Acute Leukemia cases against 32 cases recorded in 2022.

The facility recorded 35 Wilms Tumor cases against 33 diagnosed in 2022, they also diagnosed 23 Retinoblastoma cases in 2023, an increase from the 24 picked in 2022. – (@H-Metro)