Boy suffering from bone cancer in need of financial help for medical treatment

By DMG 16 Aug 2021

DMG Newsroom
16 August 2021, Taungup

An 8-year-old boy from Wegyi village in Arakan State’s Taungup Township is suffering from bone cancer and his family say they are in need of financial assistance to get proper treatment for their son.

Maung Myint Mrat Kyaw is the third youngest son of U Than Win and his wife Daw Khin Mar Yi.

Maung Myint Mrat Kyaw, who has been suffering from bone cancer since age 7, has seen the disease progress since a lump was first noticed on his wrist, his father told DMG.

“It has been a year since my son was diagnosed with bone cancer at the age of 7. At first, a small lump appeared on his left wrist and he was treated with traditional medicine. When he could not be treated with traditional medicine, he was taken to Taungup Hospital. We only found out he had bone cancer when he was admitted to the hospital,” U Than Win said.

Maung Myint Mrat Kyaw received treatment in Yangon in January but he was sent back to Sittwe by doctors at Yangon General Hospital due to the political unrest following the military coup on February 1. The child is currently being treated at Sittwe General Hospital.

“We have financial difficulties to treat our son. There are no acquaintances to seek help from here, so it is difficult to know where to go for help. We returned from Yangon General Hospital and came straight to Sittwe General Hospital. I have to seek help from doctors and teachers here,” he said. “My son’s hand is not in good condition at all. My son was unable to lift his left arm, which was suffering from bone cancer, and his left arm was swollen.”

U Than Win earns a living as a fisherman in his village, finding it financially prohibitive to travel to Yangon again to get medical treatment for his son in Myanmar’s commercial capital.