Charlene Ebbs begged her baby girl not to pass on her birthday, or while she was sleeping.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
But in the end, after a nearly two-year battle with brain cancer, little Kalani did both.
It is hard for any parent to read the words and not be reduced to tears.
The Illawarra has lost a little angel in Kalani Ebbs.
It is earth-shattering for any parent to lose a child at any time.
Yet it is even more tragic to lose a child during this supposedly festive season and on her mother’s birthday no less.
We’ve followed Kalani’s journey from the start and seen first-hand what the Dapto family has had to face along the way.
We’ve watched as this community rallied behind the family, as they always do, to provide whatever support they possibly could.
Kalani was diagnosed with a rare aggressive form of brain cancer and in 2017 underwent surgery to remove part of the tumour.
Then began a long process of chemotherapy.
In July this year we revealed Kalani had undergone one of the most intensive chemotherapy regimes ever delivered to a child.
Kalani underwent 51 weeks of chemotherapy which left her with a range of physical and learning difficulties.
On her return home, her family knew if the cancer came back, there would be nothing anyone could do.
On Wednesday, Kalani passed.
“I think she knew I was not strong enough to witness her last breath, so she took her last breath while I was sleeping beside her, her hand in mine,” her mother Charlene said.
“She’s always protected me by never showing how much she was suffering through all her treatment. And on Wednesday, my birthday, she did what she could to protect me to the very end.”
While the Illawarra’s angel is gone, she will never be forgotten.
Deepest sympathy too all of Kalani’s family and friends from the team at the Illawarra Mercury. RIP angel.