Help Sione Beat Cancer

My wonderful 36-year-old husband, Sione — my rock, my best friend — has been diagnosed with advanced Pancreatic Cancer.

We live in Tonga, a small island nation in the South Pacific that does not have the equipment or specialised doctors to treat cancer using Western medicine. Medically, there is nothing more that can be done for him here in Tonga.

We have three beautiful children — two “daddy’s island girls” aged 5 and 3 and a 10-month-old son. Sione has been a full-time dad from Day 1 and our children adore him. We can’t give up on the chance we might be able to save him or at least extend the time we have left together.

We’ve spoken with pancreatic oncologists in Australia and Germany (where I am originally from) and both have confirmed there is some hope if we can move him to one of these countries to start treatment immediately. There is a chance that if the tumour shrinks with chemo then they might be able to operate. This was also confirmed by a doctor who performed a CT scan on the visiting Chinese hospital ship.

Now we need at least 10,000 euros to relocate our family abroad for further testing and about 100,000 euros to pay for the 3-4 months of treatment if it’s recommended. If all goes well, we’ll need more for surgery down the track. As Sione is not a citizen of any other country, he’s not eligible for health care coverage or insurance outside Tonga. So we need to fundraise the total amount—even if it feels uncomfortable for us to ask people for money—because this is our best hope of extending his life.

This diagnosis has rocked our world and comes a year after the Hunga-Tonga-Hunga-Ha’apai volcanic eruption generated a tsunami that completely destroyed the resort where we had lived and worked for four years. At the time, we set up a GoFundMe and raised roughly 6000 euros, all of which we passed on to our Tongan and Fijian colleagues who lost their homes and jobs in the disaster. We’ve spent the last year recovering from this catastrophic event and getting back on our feet, and now our lives have been turned upside down again.

Our family would be so grateful for your support. If you can help, there is no donation too small. Every dollar, euro and pa’anga will make a difference.

If you are in Tonga and don’t have a credit card, we would be happy to accept your donations directly, so please call Sione or message him on Facebook.

We know times are tough so if you can’t contribute, please know that’s absolutely ok. Please share this link with as many people as you can and keep Sione in your prayers, and in the prayer circles of your church and community.

We will provide updates here about our progress and Sione’s treatment as we go.

We cannot thank you enough.

Danke schön and malo ‘aupito from our family to yours.

Julia, Sione, Ayana, Alayna and Tu’alau Hala’api’api