Annu Yu Master’s degree awarded to dying mother in coma at Darwin, Australia hospital. New mom contracted brain cancer shortly after giving mom as she fights for dignity.
‘I have no regret, and I have tried my best.’ A ‘warrior’ young mother dying of a rare form of brain cancer has been presented with her master’s degree bedside in a Darwin, Australia hospital.
Anna Yu, 28, on Friday while lying in a bed in a coma was awarded an accounting masters degree from Charles Darwin University (CDU) after spending the past two years studying.
The feat comes despite Yu battling a rare form of brain cancer after having her first baby, six months ago.
Yu and her husband Will Hou’s baby girl Sunny was born in February. Five months later doctors discovered a 4 inch (10cm) tumor growing on her spine.
In June, the new mom was diagnosed with GBM (glioblastoma multiforme), an aggressive, fast-growing tumor in her brain stem, leading to the new mum’s ‘world being turned upside down.’
You is still listening
Hou said his wife was in a coma, suffering with a high fever after having a seizure.
As Anna laid in bed dressed in a graduation gown, her parents and baby girl wept over her.
Unable to move, open her eyes or swallow, Yu ‘is still listening’.
On Thursday, Yu’s university called Hou to tell him that she had completed her degree.
She had been studying while in hospital, with her family, doctors and nurses there to support her through it.
‘She kept learning through her illness, and she finished her study. She just accomplished her degree. Remember her forever. Her name is Anna,’ Hou said as her degree was presented.
‘When we told Anna of this good news, she couldn’t move but her eyes opened a little,’ Hou said.
Finite time left to live
CDU informed Hou that his wife’s certificate would be presented to her in the hospital in Darwin in what Will described as a ‘monumental moment’.
Glioblastoma typically appears in people in their 60s and has an incidence of three in 100,000.
The survival rate for patients with this kind of brain cancer drops from 40 percent in the first year after diagnosis to just 17 percent in the second.
With essential treatment, Anna Yu was told that she would only have three to six months left to live according to the nypost.
The staff at the Darwin Private Hospital cried and celebrated Ms. Yu’s incredible achievement.
‘It’s really wonderful,’ Hou said.
Living defiantly and passing on a legacy
‘The first time I went to the doctor with her to talk about the disease I needed an interpreter, but the doctors and nurses have been with us from the start.’
Yu’s story was initially shared on a GoFundMe site, trying to raise money for potentially lifesaving treatment.
Hou said he was so grateful for all the donations his family had received, and it was ‘peaceful’ knowing of all the support.
He will use the money to raise his baby girl, Sunny, who reminds him of his wife.
‘She is my only goal to keep me going,’ the dad said.
Yu completed her degree by studying in hospital during rounds of chemotherapy treatments.
‘Anna is a fighter, she is a warrior. She is not a poor woman with cancer, she is a fighter. She has never complained, she has never been afraid,’ Hou said.
‘In Anna’s case, her cancer is more rare. The doctor said there are only one or two cases in Australia.
‘She is willing to donate all of her body parts, but because of the cancer some of her body can’t be used.
‘I have no regret, and I have tried my best.’
‘After the celebration, I will sign the donation documents.
‘That would be a moment in history.
‘I have no more words.
‘I have no regret, and I have tried my best.’
Will Hou said his wife’s parents were struggling to understand as they didn’t speak English, but they were by her side.
‘When I shared this good news (about the degree) with the nurses and doctors, they all cried and they were so excited,’ Anna’s husband said.
