Sanaiah Kerr

In September 2022 when Sanaiah was just 10 years old, she was diagnosed with a rare form of brain cancer called Medulla Blastoma. It was discovered after she was hospitalized for severe headaches, where they found a tumor and had to surgically remove it urgently. Once they determined the tumor was cancerous, Sanaiah was then required to undergo an aggressive treatment plan with chemo and radiation to ensure the cancer was fully removed. Throughout the next several months of chemo and radiation, Sanaiah struggled with severe nausea and malnourishment. She lost so much weight she ended up needing s feeding tube. To make matters worse, Sanaiah’s mom lost her job because she was unable to return to work due to Sanaiah’s condition. Finally, in June of 2023, Sanaiah was able to ring the bell celebrating her final chemotherapy treatment. We all thought we were on healing part of her journey. She even began going back to school in the fall. Her mom was getting ready to get back to into the work force. Unfortunately, a few months later in May 2024, Sanaiah’s mom began noticing issues with her hearing and speech. She took Sanaiah back to her oncology team and an MRI revealed a significant brain injury. It was determined to be delayed side effects from the radiation treatment. Over the course of the next few months, we began to see significant decline in Sanaiah’s ability to speak, eat, hear and see. She has undergone intense physical therapy at Shirley Ryan, and her doctors are hopeful she will make some recovery but estimate it will take a very long time. Today, Sanaiah is fully wheelchair bound, unable to verbally communicate and has no movement the neck down and limited movement with her neck and head. She relies on a feeding tube for nutrition and requires 24/7 care and several appointments every week. In order to get her to these appointments we have been using Medicare provided transportation, but unfortunately it has been extremely difficult. The transportation service have been unreliable, causing Sanaiah to be late or completely miss appointments, or get stranded for hours at the doctor’s office because the vans left and never came back to pick them up. A huge burden would be lifted if the family was able to have their own wheelchair accessible van, and not have to rely on the transportation services. These last two years have been an extreme financial hardship on the family, any assistance towards this goal will go a long way.

Our family and friends of Sanaiah Kerr are raising money for the nonprofit Help Hope Live to fund uninsured medical expenses associated with a Catastrophic Illness. Sanaiah has chosen to fundraise with Help Hope Live in part because donations are tax deductible for contributors and will only be used to cover medical and related expenses.

To make a contribution to Sanaiah’s fundraising campaign, click the “GIVE” button. Please share this page in your social media platform community. Every donation makes a difference.

For more information, please contact Help Hope Live at 800-642-8399.