Diana Sevealii recently became a mother for the first time while also receiving news she only had weeks to live due to a cancer diagnosis.
A new mother found out she has just weeks to live, as she sat at the hospital bedside of her baby girl who will need open heart surgery to survive.
Five weeks after giving birth to Brooklyn, who was born premature and with a heart defect, Diana Sevealii, 36, was diagnosed with cervical cancer and is urging women to have regular smear tests.
She has refused chemotherapy as she wants to spend as much quality time as she can with her daughter, now seven weeks old, who is in Auckland's Starship Hospital.
"It breaks my heart knowing I am leaving her," Sevealii told the Herald on Sunday.
"She is beautiful and loving and feisty - she gets that from me. She's come a long way and she still has a bit to go - but she's definitely a fighter," said Sevealii.
Brooklyn's condition is life-threatening, said Dr Kirsten Finucane, head of Paediatric Cardiac and Surgical unit at Starship.
"Children can have spells and seizures, their oxygen levels go down. It's a combination of a hole in the heart in the two main chambers of the heart and a blockage in the flow of blood from the right ventricle into the lungs."
Sevealii first became concerned for her own health while eight weeks pregnant after bleeding and clotting, but an initial smear test came back giving her the all-clear.
A further test in the month leading up to Brooklyn's birth showed abnormalities and two weeks ago, while she was with her daughter at Starship, she was given the devastating news that she had terminal cancer.
Diana Sevealii with her new born daughter Brooklyn. Photo / kapitiexposure.com
"It was definitely shocking," Seveali said.
"They've given me weeks basically.
"I know it's every three years [you should get a smear test] but if you are in my situation have them more often and get a second opinion if you are not sure.
"It's probably not a thing Pacific Island women would put on their list of priorities but it's important. It can save your life."
She doesn't blame anyone for what's happened but is frustrated at the all-clear she had received after the initial smear test.
Her family are working out who will look after Brooklyn.
Sevealii's older sister, Moira Peet, has returned from New York where she lives and has promised her sister she will "love and guide Brooklyn" when she can no longer.
"It's unfortunate we have to gather in such challenging circumstances," Peet said.
"I love Di to bits she's always been a second mum to my kids and all our nephews and nieces. Wherever she goes she is known as 'Aunty Di'."
Diana Sevealii, left, with her sister Moira Peet. Photo / Mike Scott
Sevealii thanked Heart Kids - a charity that supports children like Brooklyn - for the support they had shown towards her and her family.
"Annie from Heart Kids has been a huge blessing for me, my family and Brooklyn. She has helped with food and clothing. This week she found a bigger house which is a lot warmer with a lot more bedrooms."
