M'sian girl, 15, needs S$630,000 to treat rare & aggressive leukaemia in S'pore

A 15-year-old Malaysian girl battling a rare and aggressive form of leukaemia known as T-cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia, needs to raise RM2,000,000 (around S$630,000) for treatment in Singapore.

According to a fundraising page on onehopecharity.org, Mirabelle Kua Han Fay must travel to Singapore within the week of Dec. 16, 2025 to begin treatment.

This is because the chances of success will increase the earlier treatment begins.

As of 10am on Dec. 17, less than half the targeted amount has been raised.

Kua's single father appealed for the public to help Kua, who is from Melaka.

She said to her father in the hospital: "Dad...please don't give up on me... I still want to live..."

According to the page, through her parents are divorced, Kua's mother has returned to care for her with her father Kua Soon Leng, who works as a car window tinting salesperson earning around RM3,000 (S$947) per month.

CAR-T therapy

The page states that to treat her cancer, doctors have advised her to begin CAR-T cell therapy.

According to the fundraising page, it is an innovative, personalised immunotherapy and is regarded as one of the breakthroughs in cancer treatment.

This therapy involves extracting the patient's own T cells and genetically modifying them in a laboratory to equip them with chimeric antigen receptors (CAR).

These receptors enable the T cells to precisely recognise and attack cancer cells.

The enhanced CAR-T cells are then infused back into the patient's body, where they actively seek out and destroy cancer cells, improving treatment outcomes.

According to SingHealth, T cells are a type of white blood cell called lymphocytes which help the immune system fight germs and protect a person from disease.

Diagnosed

This comes after Kua was preparing for her first team training on her school's volleyball team.

However, on Sep. 9, she developed a fever, with blood test results showing that her white blood cell count surged beyond triple digits.

This is far above the normal range of two to five and Kua was subsequently diagnosed with malignant blood cancer.

Despite going through four cycles of chemotherapy in Malaysia, her cancer indicators remained well above the safe threshold.

Success chances

The page states that according to medical assessments, if treatment is successfully carried out, her chance of recovery exceeds 80 per cent.

However, she still has to raise funds to cover the cost of treatment, related medical testing, medications, hospitalisation and any subsequent stem cell or bone marrow transplant required.

To increase the success rate of CAR-T therapy, Kua is currently undergoing intravenous chemotherapy which is covered by insurance.

Race against time

"Although Mirabelle's condition is currently stable, her cancer cells could rebound any moment," the page read.

Following a hospital assessment, One Hope Charity has decided to assist Kua in raising the required medical funds.

The family has agreed for One Hope Charity to fully manage the fundraising and collection of donations.

One Hope Charity will also allocate RM100,000 (around S$31,500) from its Emergency Medical and Contingency Reserve Fund to support this case.

Anyone with enquiries may contact 04-539 9212, 016-419 2192, 019-232 2192, or 018-911 4192.

Top photos via onehopecharity.org