Sonja Prince is Kwesi Prince’s mother and was his primary caregiver. Kwesi was only seven years old in 2010 when he was diagnosed with a rare malignant brain tumor. In that year Kwesi had two brain surgeries, radiation and high dose chemotherapy. After 15 months of remission, he relapsed in 2012. He had another surgery, chemotherapy and a bone marrow transplant. In 2013 Kwesi relapsed a second time and in 2014 he passed away but left his spirit in those who knew and love him.
Sonja remains a fierce childhood cancer advocate and is dedicated to fight for all pediatric cancer families until a cure is found. She's served as a member on the Family Advisory Committee at St. Louis Children’s Hospital and has spent many years mentoring young girls and volunteering at her local Ronald McDonald Family Room.
Sonja is the Executive Director of the Kwesi Prince Foundation which is a pediatric cancer organization dedicated to providing support to families suffering the devastating effects of Childhood Cancer with a focus on brain tumors.
She has over 19 years experience working in the banking industry and holds a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Business Administration.
In this episode of Nurah Speaks Sonja shares with listeners that pediatric cancer is vastly different than adult cancer and that pediatric cancer receives only 4% of government funding. (And a small percentage of that addresses brain cancers.) Sonja shares how friends and family can support caregivers of sick children or what she has learned about herself in her journey with Kwesi. She encourages listeners to fight for increased research funding for cures and prevention of childhood cancers. She also suggests volunteering or donating to your local childhood cancer nonprofit organization.
The Kwesi Prince Foundation is dedicated to:
1. Providing education for holistic lifestyles
2. Providing assistance for bereaved families
3. Funding innovative research for less toxic treatments for children
4. Supporting parents and caregivers through the ‘tranquility tote’ program
5. Spread awareness of childhood cancer and effects on the entire family
Learn more online by visiting www.KwesiPrinceFoundation.com and on Facebook www.facebook.com/KwesiPrinceFoundation/. In our conversation, Sonja also mentioned Caring Bridge which is a social media platform in which parents of sick children can share real time information and updates to family members and friends. Learn more about Caring Bridge by visiting CaringBridge.org.
If you would like to engage with the show, submit your listener questions to questions@NurahZaheerah.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: http://NurahZaheerah.com and reading her blog: http://www.nurahzaheerah.com/blog.
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