'We are a Starship family' - Mother's tribute to hospital that helped her son Ailing Elijah beat leukaemia

Elijah Amoah, 10, is now free from leukaemia after years spent in and out of hospitals battling the cancer.

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Ten-year-old Elijah Amoah has spent more than a year in hospital being treated for leukaemia and the complications of its treatment.

Much of the Wellington youngster's treatment has been at the Starship in Auckland.

He was three when leukaemia was diagnosed. He had been unusually tired and clingy and a swelling sprang up under his jaw. He was sweating at night and a rash developed.

A doctor suspected glandular fever but ordered blood tests and these indicated leukaemia, a type of cancer.

Elijah had to be taken straight to Wellington Hospital and the next day, with parents Olivia and Charlie, he went to Christchurch Hospital.

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"It was really, really difficult," says Mrs Amoah. "We went to Christchurch without our other two boys. Our parents moved in to our house and looked after them. They came down to visit, we came back after six weeks, then went back again."

Elijah had high-dose chemotherapy in Christchurch and later maintenance therapy in Wellington.

When he was five, just days before starting school, a leukaemia relapse was discovered.

He came to the Starship and his family moved in to the nearby Ronald McDonald House for nearly seven months. Elijah went back on to high-dose chemotherapy, plus radiation therapy and he had a bone-marrow transplant. His younger brother, Taziyah - now eight - was the donor.

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"We explained that he was helping Elijah and that he was a little super-hero," says Mrs Amoah.

"Initially things seemed to have worked, but we were devastated when, 13 months later, Elijah relapsed a second time.

"We moved back to Auckland again to the Ronald McDonald House, this time for nine months. Elijah again received high doses of chemo and radiation.

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"He was very ill, his body had been through so much. He had a second transplant, this time with stem cells from New York.

"Recovery was very tough - complications from graft-versus-host disease and effects from all the treatment were huge."

The graft-versus-host disease, in which the donated cells attack the patient's cells, affected Elijah's gut and skin.

"All his skin started to peel off."

Elijah is now free of leukaemia, and "the longer he is in remission, the less likely it is that he will relapse again", Mrs Amoah says.

"We are a Starship family, who owe the amazing staff for our son's life. We call it the Mothership - it feels good to be there, safe and comforting. Whenever we go up for check-ups, Elijah gets excited."

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