In December 2019, Ellie Keating began to notice something amiss with her young son, Mason. According to the Daily Mail, Mason had difficulty breathing at night and suffered from a persistent high fever. Between January and March 2020, Keating, who resides in England, took Mason to four appointments with his general physician. Despite developing night sweats, doctors diagnosed Mason with a viral infection.
As Mason's condition worsened, he began vomiting and had difficulty standing up. Alarmed, Keating, 29, called an ambulance, and Mason was rushed to the hospital.
"With more symptoms emerging, it didn't seem right that it was just a viral infection," Keating told the Daily Mail. "He started vomiting, and his stool looked like he had swallowed tobacco; it was really bitty. He wasn't eating or drinking, which led to no wet nappies. I know that's a significant alarm when a child doesn't have wet nappies."
After being discharged, Mason's condition did not improve. Keating took him to a different hospital, where a chest x-ray and blood tests revealed he had T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia. According to the Mayo Clinic, this type of cancer affects the blood and bone marrow, the spongy tissue inside bones where blood cells are made.
"One of my main concerns was his very chesty cough," Keating explained. "It made him snore at night, something he'd never done before."
Keating never considered cancer as a possibility. "When they told me Mason had cancer, the noise I made didn't even sound human. I was bawling my eyes out and screaming. Just as I was starting to understand that he had cancer, I was hit with the realization that he might die. I had no chance to research alternative therapies; I had no time."
Mason underwent an intensive four-week regimen of chemotherapy and steroid treatment. Despite the treatment, he passed away in July 2020 at the age of three.
"On the day he died, there was no warning," Keating recalled. "We were making handprints and footprints with the nurses, and suddenly, he took four big breaths and was gone."
"The nurse grabbed me as I was about to collapse. We were all sobbing in that room," she added.
Now a mother to her 3-year-old son Blake Ollis, Keating shares Mason's story to encourage parents to get their children's health thoroughly checked and to raise awareness about leukemia symptoms.
"I used to think 'that won't happen to me' when I read other people's stories," she said. "I think many people feel that way, especially about childhood cancer. Until it happens to you, it doesn't cross your mind, and that needs to change."
"My message to parents is to trust your instincts and stand your ground because early diagnosis could save lives," she emphasized. "I couldn't save Mason, but if I can save one child's life, I've done my bit."
The Quran - Chapter Adh-Dhariyat : 59 - 60
The wrongdoers will certainly have a share ˹of the torment˺ like that of their predecessors. So do not let them ask Me to hasten ˹it˺.
Woe then to the disbelievers when they face their Day which they are warned of!
The word ذُنُوب dhanub in verse 59 is with lath on the letter [ dh ] which means a large bucket that is kept at the common wells of a locality for the purpose of drawing and filling water.
A turn is designated for each of the persons using the large common bucket to draw out water from the well, so that he is conveniently able to fill it in his own private bucket in his turn.
Thus the word here is employed in the sense of turn, share or portion. Hence it is translated above as follows: "So, those who did wrong deserve a share (in the punishment) like the share of their companions."
The verse purports to warn the disbelievers that the past communities were given an opportunity to work.
When each of these communities did not take advantage of the opportunity in their respective time and persisted in their evil course, they were punished and destroyed.
Likewise, the present pagans of Makkah are designated a time and opportunity. If they do not take advantage of the allocated time and opportunity and persist in their paganism, they will be punished in this world; otherwise the punishment of the Hereafter is most certain.
They will thus meet with a fate similar to that of the opponents of former Prophets. Like them they will come to a sad end.
This verse, in which the word dhanuban occurs, indicates that they will receive their due share of the torment, and it will surely come in due time; so they should not ask for it to be hastened on or rushed to them.
