Singaporean With Terminal Cancer Spends Birthday With Family At Universal Studios Singapore
Among the diseases that plague us, cancer is one of the deadliest and most prevalent.
While the prognosis differs from one individual to another, there are some who unfortunately discover it too late.
One Singaporean man was diagnosed with stage four cancer, which is the most severe stage and considered to be terminal.
Despite the bleak circumstances, a charity organisation recently granted his birthday wish to spend it with his family at Universal Studios Singapore (USS).
Source: YouTube
The birthday celebration and his story were documented in a YouTube video, leading to an outpouring of support and empathy from viewers.
Cancer-stricken man was diagnosed at 47 years old
Viewers were introduced to Mr Manimaran, or Mr Mani for short, via a YouTube video by Our Grandfather Story (OGS) on 1 May, which was his birthday.
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According to the video’s description, Mr Mani was diagnosed with stage four renal cancer at the age of 47.
For the uninitiated, renal cancer stems from the tubules of the kidney.
At the time of filming, Mr Mani had been residing at a nursing home for seven months.
In the past, he worked in the hotel industry and would often travel abroad for work.
Following a leg fracture, he received the diagnosis by chance when he took a blood test.
Having not shown any symptoms up to that point and being of a relatively young age, Mr Mani was utterly shocked and unable to accept the news at first.
Source: YouTube
His wife, who resides in Malaysia with their daughter, also took the news badly.
“She’s crying and crying every day… but I can’t do anything much,” he said.
Man’s family visits him in nursing home once every 2 weeks
Elaborating further on his family, Mr Mani shared that his wife and 10-year-old daughter visit him once every two weeks.
During her recent 10th birthday, his daughter, Ponniyla, even celebrated it at the nursing home.
According to Mr Mani, the idea came from her and she even shared her birthday cake with other patients.
Source: YouTube
When they are apart, he frequently has video calls with her where she’ll ask him how his day is going and what he is doing.
In a heartwarming moment caught on camera, Ponniyla can be seen telling her father that she gives him hugs every day via a plush toy that acts as a proxy for him.
Source: YouTube
Towards the end of the call, Mr Mani asks his daughter to hug ‘him’ when she goes to sleep before they exchange “I love you’s”.
Later, he shared that while Ponniyla is aware of his illness, she puts on a strong front and doesn’t cry when she sees him.
Charity organisation fulfils man’s wish to spend birthday with family in USS
Looking back, Mr Mani said that anytime he feels unbearable pain, it makes him regret not spending more time with his family when he could.
Source: YouTube
The pain also reminds him that his time is slowly coming and that he has no choice but to accept it.
He then expressed that his only hope is to be able to make it to his 49th birthday.
At this point, the video reveals that his social worker Adrian reached out to Ambulance Wish Singapore (AWS) months before his birthday.
AWS is a charity organisation that specialises in making patients’ last wishes come true.
With their help, Mr Mani got to fulfil his wish of visiting USS with his wife and daughter, which marked their first trip in two years.
Before the outing, AWS even surprised him with a jersey from Manchester United, his favourite football club.
Source: YouTube
To top it off, volunteers got his family a matching set so they could all be coordinated during their family outing.
Source: YouTube
Following that, the video showed Mr Mani and his family enjoying their time together at the theme park going on various rides and shopping for souvenirs.
Man ends birthday celebration with bouquet for wife & video message from daughter
After a fun and busy day at USS, the celebration did not end there as AWS had more surprises up its sleeve.
Once they were back at the nursing home, volunteers presented Mr Mani with a flower bouquet to gift his wife as it was Valentine’s Day.
Ponniyla was not left out of the festivities either as she too was given two boxes of presents.
Source: YouTube
Subsequently, they showed Mr Mani a video message from Ponniyla.
In it, the 10-year-old told her father that she wanted to make it the longest video so her father can see it forever and he would not be sad.
She also hoped that he can be happy forever and to “let the light come in”.
Source: YouTube
At the end, she told her father that she loves him and that she knows that he will always be an “angel” to her.
Moved to tears, Mr Mani said a simple word like “love” can leave such a great impact. He added that her words will remain in his memories forever.
Reflecting on his life, he shared that he appreciates the life that God has given him.
“At the end of the day when you’re in bed, you’ll think, ‘Oh I’ll miss all those things, and it’s coming to an end soon,'” he said.
He also expressed his belief that his family will be able to get by without him as God is there for them.
Source: YouTube
“When they close their eyes and mention my name, I’ll be there with them… I’ll help them,” he stated.
Hope Mr Mani can reunite with family for good
In an update on Mr Mani’s current situation, OGS revealed that Adrian is now trying to relocate his family members to Singapore.
We wish Adrian, Mr Mani, and his family all the best. May their mission can be completed successfully soon.
No matter what the future may hold for him, the thing that matters most is that he can be with his family as much as possible in the days to come.
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Featured image adapted from YouTube.
