Family, friends celebrate a life cut short by leukemia

Riviera beach was the backdrop of many happy moments for Nick Borg Cardona who loved the sea, sand and sun, particularly when surrounded by great friends.

So this week, on what was to be his 27th birthday, his friends and family will be gathering at Riviera to celebrate his life that was cut short earlier this year after a 14-month battle with leukaemia.

"Nick was happiest when he was at Riviera, be it studying or just chilling with his friends. When his health seriously deteriorated in January, 47 of those friends flew to London from various parts of the world and surrounded his hospital bed," his mother, Tanya, recalled with affection.

"I loved every minute he was alive," she said, as she looked into the distance trying to forget the terrible battles fought during the family's war with cancer.

Eight months after he passed away, Ms Borg Cardona has a message for mothers-to-be: she is urging them to harvest and store their baby's umbilical cord stem cells.

Although her son's leukaemia was very aggressive, and may not have responded to such stem cell treatment, she stressed there were other forms of leukaemia that would.

"It's not worth risking not harvesting stem cells. You just never know. You may be able to save your child's life. When I had Nick there wasn't the awareness there is today and truthfully we didn't hear so much about cancer," she said.

"Harvesting stem cells costs just under €2,000. People spend so much money on the luxury part of parenting, like designer clothes and €500 pushchairs. Find the money. All the brands in the world will not save your child, but stem cells could. Not saving those cells is utter madness," she insisted.

Her son was first diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukaemia when he was 11 and was taken to Hammersmith Hospital, in London, to start treatment. A few years later, when he was 15, he had a bone marrow transplant that was completely successful, and for the next 10 years he was free of any symptoms.

In August 2007 he started looking pale and blood tests revealed he had once again contracted leukaemia, but this time a far more aggressive version: acute myeloid.

Treatment started again, but this time, the cancer never went into remission for more than a few weeks at a time. He went through many rounds of chemotherapy, two bone marrow transplants, receiving his own cells, then his mother's, and even signed up for exploratory radical treatment.

Tragically the battle was not his to win, and he passed away on January 25, surrounded by relatives and friends. A few days later, a funeral ceremony was held and he was cremated in London.

"He was an outdoors person. We couldn't bear the idea of putting him underground. Cremation is so dignified," his mother said.

A ceremony, celebrating his life, was also held in Malta and a few ashes were buried in the family grave so people would have a point of contact. Ms Borg Cardona explained that, throughout the illness, her son never gave up hope.

"I have to thank his boss, Stefano Mallia, who kept giving him projects, encouraged and supported him throughout the journey. This gave him great strength. Routine helps as it gives you a reason to live. And also the fact his friends were with him every step of the way and ended up watching DVDs and having poker nights in hospital.

"Hope should be the last to die. Nick didn't make it, but others still could and life is definitely worth fighting for," she said.

Stem cells

Only 10 per cent of mothers choose to harvest umbilical cord stem cells in Malta and this is mainly due to misinformation, according to Sylvana Brannon, the managing director of Smart Cells Malta.

Stem cells are the building blocks of all other body cells in our bodies.

Their renewing properties allow them to be used for treatment of diseased cells.

In the case of leukaemia they build a new healthy blood system once the diseased cells are removed through treatment.

Potentially, the cells can also be used to treat other diseases like diabetes, strokes, multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.

Costs to harvest cells range from €1,740 to €1,980.