Chronicle Editor
Leonard Ncube, Victoria Falls Reporter
A 14-YEAR-OLD girl from Hwange who has been in and out of hospital with a rare disease that had eaten off her nose and upper lip leaving her with a deformed face, has died.
Doctors had confirmed that she had cancer following tests done in Bulawayo where she had been admitted in February.
Valerie Nyoni, was a boarder at Tsholotsho High School where she was supposed to be doing Form Two but had missed school as she was admitted to Hwange Colliery Hospital.
She died before she could get any cancer treatment as doctors said she was too weak to be initiated on any cancer treatment.
Her father Mr Thomas Nyoni said Valerie died in hospital last week, four days after they received results of tests conducted on her at United Bulawayo Hospitals in February.
He said he was grateful to well-wishers who had started contributing money to the family for the girl’s treatment after reading the Chronicle’s story about the girl last week.
“I have lost my beloved daughter. Her results came four days before the day she died and confirmed that she had cancer. They had not started treating her saying she was very weak,” said Mr Nyoni.
She said Valerie has since been buried in Hwange. “A few people had responded with cash and some pastors came to pray for us. I would like to thank all those who contributed financially and all those who felt pain together with us,” he said.
When a news crew visited Valerie on her hospital bed a week before her death, she had lost weight while the wound had spread to her left cheek.
She was the last born in a family of three daughters. The family got to know about Valerie’s condition when she returned from school in December last year and since then she had been in and out of hospital until her death.-@ncubeleon
Londile Moyo
Online Reporter