Ashley Cain, best known for being a soccer player and a star of MTV’s The Challenge, has opened up about his 8-month-old’s battle with cancer and how they only have a few days left with her. In a series of Instagram story videos, Cain and his partner, Safiyya Vorajee revealed that they were getting molds of their little girl’s feet done to celebrate her 8-month birthday.
Two days earlier, Vorajee posted a photo of her and Cain in scrubs while holding their baby girl. The caption attached to the photo revealed that Azaylia‘s CT scans and ultrasound revealed tumors in her brain, kidneys, liver, lungs, and spleen. Additionally, they were told that there was no way to remove the tumors on her brain and that the rounds of chemotherapy she had endured were no longer working.
“With a heavy painful heart, I share the saddest news of my life,” Vorajee began her statement. “Today we also found out that Singapore has not been able to create a CART treatment to cure Azaylia because of the rarity and aggressiveness of her leukemia.”
Vorajee continued, writing, “This was our last, our only and our final option to save Azaylia and her disease was even too complex for them. So we will be now returning home with our beautiful baby to give her the best possible time left that we can.”
The proud mother made it known how strong Azaylia has been during this battle. “[She] doesn’t deserve this to happen to her! There aren’t enough words out there to describe the heartache and pain I’m feeling but I’m incredibly honored to have become a mummy to my precious girl.”
After being welcomed into the world in August 2020, it was roughly two months after Azaylia’s birth that she was diagnosed with leukemia. And ever since, Cain and Vorajee have encouraged their daughter and walked through this journey with her, and shared bits and pieces of it on Instagram.
“I honestly thought The Rock was my hero until I spent the last 8 months with you,” Cain wrote in an open letter to his daughter on her 8-month birthday. “You taught me how to be strong when I needed strength, you taught me how to smile when I am feeling sad, you taught me how to cherish every single moment – as these moments are all we have. You’ve been tenacious, fearless, courageous, positive, happy, and loving through times which I thought would make it impossible! You’ve given me the best 8 months of my life through the toughest of times.”
In the days leading up to the celebration, doctors told Azaylia’s parents that she only had one or two days left to live; that was 10 days ago. “Even with a barbaric disease consuming her blood, tumors in her brain and organs, and amounts of pain I cannot imagine… She is still battling through 9 days later, with parts of the day with nothing but smiles despite her discomfort,” Cain said of her strength.
Cain said it’s the fact that she is still fighting that is a testament to her “strength.”
“She has fought a battle that not many, if any, of us could have endured and she’s earned the love and respect of many on the way. The truth is though, I hope and pray that I have earned hers! Even through the hardest and saddest time of my life, she has found a way to make it better. She has shined light on the darkest of days and she has opened my heart to amounts of love I couldn’t believe possible!”
The father admitted that while he doesn’t know what he will do without his daughter by his side, for now, he is finding “strength in giving you the best of me, and the only me that you deserve!”
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Our thoughts and prayers are with Azaylia and her family during this difficult time.