Last year, I posted about a little girl, Jasmina Amena, who was being treated for leukemia at NYU. We would sometimes see her and her mother in the hallways of the pediatric unit, but it wasn’t very often since she was always in isolation. I am sad to report that just this past Wednesday, Jasmina lost her fight against the cancer and died. It had only been just over a year ago that she was diagnosed.
Her story made headlines in the local newspapers and TV stations and attracted celebrities such as Rihanna and Kelly Rowland who would visit her in the hospital. In what would be Jasmina’s ultimate dream, she was able to meet President Obama at the White House just this past December.
There were a number of bone marrow drives that were held in her honor and last summer, she received a bone marrow transplant from a near-exact donor match. Unfortunately, this fall, her cancer returned. On Monday, she developed pneumonia and quickly deteriorated. Before passing in her mother’s arms, she said to her, “Mama, it’s ok to cry.”
Jasmina was 6 years old.
You can read her mother’s blog at: http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/jasmina
