AS a single mother of six struggles with cervical cancer, her 13-year-old girl is appealing to the public to help send her abroad for treatment by the month-end.
Sherryl Firoa, a Class Seven student at Levuka Primary School, said she needed her mother and prays that Litia Dibaleiwai, 36, will receive treatment.
Ms Dibaleiwai, who separated from her husband, said she was lucky to have her family help raise her children aged 13 to three years.
She has been diagnosed with stage 2B cervical cancer, which can only be treated abroad.
I want my mum to get better because she helps us a lot, Sherryl said.
I always want to be next to her, I dont want her to be sad but to make her happy. I want my mum to get better and am asking the people to please help her.
Her brother Maciu Bolaitamana, a support services manager with an in-bound tour operator, said the family were doing all they could to raise funds for Litias treatment.
He said the Ministry of Health had taken on the cost for six weeks of treatment ranging from chemotherapy to radium therapy in India but Litia would now have to travel to Australia.
The doctors suggested that she had to be treated before it reaches stage three, he said.
She was in hospital in April then again after two weeks she started experiencing excruciating pain.
Litia had a scan done last Tuesday and the doctor said India was too far for her to travel because of the pain she was experiencing and she would have to travel through Hong Kong or Korea.
We approached a few donors but only Fiji Sixes came back, so we, her family are doing what we can to raise funds to send her to Australia for treatment.
Mr Bolaitamana said they were waiting on Litias pathology report in order to get a quote from an Australian hospital.
Ms Dibaleiwai said she started bleeding continuously after the birth of her youngest child but continued working.
I want to be treated, come back and look after my children thats all I want, she said.
I was too scared to tell my kids and they only found out that I had cancer last weekend when they came from Levuka with my mum.
When I told my older daughter and son, they cried and every time they see me in pain, they cry.
Im hopeful of getting better.
Mr Bolaitamana believes the separation and Litias attempts to secure maintenance contributed to her stress.
But he said the family would continue to care for his sister and her children.
One of her children was with me in Nadi while the rest were in Levuka and Litia worked in Suva to support them, he said.