Kendra Cassar may only be two-years old, but she’s old enough to know when her mommy is crying for her. “Why are you crying mommy,” Kendra would ask whenever she saw Joeline Cassar tearing up, “because of my eye? You don’t need to cry.”

TVM reported that Kendra was diagnosed with a tumor about six months ago after a visit to the doctor. “When he saw her, he was shocked, I could see that he was shocked” explained Joeline of that fateful doctor’s visit. “He began to write, and from all the words that he wrote the one word that I picked out was ‘tumor’.”

Kendra lost sight in her left eye because of the tumor. She was taken to England were she underwent an operation to remove the eye. Now, when she undergoes further treatment, including chemotherapy, she is the brave one, telling her mother not to cry for her.

“You can never imagine something like this coming for you,” Joeline told TVM. She spoke about how programmes like L-Istrina have been crucial to her family’s quality of life, saying that they help not only when it comes to issues like money, but also in giving her and her family courage and support.

Joeline and her husband also have another two boys, aged five and nine, and they have been affected by their little sister’s illness as well. Often times they stay behind in Malta, living with other family members, while their parents and Kendra are in England for treatment.

Joeline now urges Maltese people to contribute to the Malta Community Chest Fund through L-Istrina during this Christmas season, to help families like hers and many others in Malta. 

Tag someone who needs to know about Kendra’s story.

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Johnathan Cilia

Johnathan is an award-winning Maltese journalist interested in social justice, politics, minority issues, music and food. Follow him at @supreofficialmt on Instagram, and send him news, food and music stories at [email protected]