Little Annabelle Nguyen, 5, dies after battling incurable brain tumour
A FIVE-year-old Australian girl seeking experimental treatment for an incurable brain tumour in Mexico died overnight after three months in a coma.
NSW
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A FIVE-year-old Australian girl seeking experimental treatment for an incurable brain tumour in Mexico died overnight after three months in a coma.
The Perth-based family took Annabelle Nguyen to Mexico for treatment for the deadly Diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG) after they were told three years ago that their daughter only had nine months to live. There were treatment options in Australia at the time and the family was told to ‘go home and make memories’.
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“With our broken hearts, our Annabelle went to GOD’s hand peacefully in my arms this morning. She is now free and be a normal girl again,” Annabelle’s mother Sandy Nguyen posted overnight.
In February, the Sunday Telegraph reported scans from her Mexican doctors showed Annabelle had no evidence of the brain tumour that is inoperable and always fatal.
The Nguyen family turned to Mexico to undergo experimental intra-arterial chemotherapy and immunotherapy at a clinic in Monterrey run by doctors Alberto Siller and Alberto Garcia. The Mexican clinic has been heavily criticised by the world cancer community for their secrecy. Treatments costs families around $30,000 per round and are required every month to six weeks. Several Australian families have taken their children to Mexico in the hope to extend their lives.
Sandy and Trung Nguyen have sold their home and spent in excess of $500,000.
In late April, scans showed Annabelle’s tumours had returned. She underwent her 15th interatrial chemotherapy treatment but rapidly declined the following day.
Doctors inserted a shunt into her brain to relieve the pressure on May 3, but Annabelle fell into a coma where she remained.
The Nguyen family begged the Australia embassy to help bring their daughter home but their requests fell on deaf ears.
The family is now faced with a bill for the intensive care which cost $2,000 a day while Annabelle was in a coma.
The Sunday Telegraph has campaigned for more research funds for brain cancer to offer parents hope. A new trial of immunotherapy is now on offer in Australia for newly diagnosed children of DIPG.
