One Courageous Young Woman

The Star Online > Nation

Thursday April 16, 2009

Young woman battling tumour disorder wins award

By LISA GOH

KUALA LUMPUR: Yvonne Foong, 22, is one tough woman. She survived six surgeries to remove tumours – one on her spine and five on her brain – and is set to go for a seventh surgery next month to remove a 5cm tumour at the base of her brain.

Despite all this she is still optimistic about life and it is no wonder she was awarded the Her World Young Woman Achiever of the Year 2008 on Tuesday.

“I want to thank my friends, because if not for them, I would not be here today,” she said after receiving her award from Deputy Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datin Paduka Chew Mei Fun.

At 16, Foong’s doctors diagnosed her with neurofibromatosis type 2, a rare genetic disease that causes benign tumours to grow in her brain, spine and along her peripheral nerves.

The incurable illness has left her with semi-facial paralysis, deafness, partial blindness, poor balance, and a stiff right leg.

To raise funds for her surgeries at the House Ear Institute (HEI) in Los Angeles, United States, she sells custom-designed Heart4Hope T-shirts. Her next surgery will cost RM140,000.

Foong – a newspaper columnist, blogger (www.yvonnefoong.com) and the author of I’m Not Sick, Just A Bit Unwell – is studying for her Bachelor’s in Psychology at a college here.

The other woman honoured is Women’s Aid Organisation executive director Ivy Josiah, who received the Her World Woman of the Year 2008 award.

Josiah, 53, who was honoured for her prominent voice on women and human rights in Malaysia said that although she was pleased with the award, survivors of domestic violence deserved it more.

---

© 1995-2009 Star Publications (Malaysia) Bhd (Co No 10894-D)

I had picked up a copy of Yvonne's book some months ago at a doctor's clinic. They were selling it to help her raise funds so I bought one but didn't really read it. Then when I saw the video introducing Yvonne at the Her World Women of the Year 2008 dinner the other night, I realised that this young girl in a Korean outfit was the same one.

The thing about Yvonne is that she cannot hear because her disease has affected her hearing. But that doesn't mean she can't speak! To speak to her, you have to write on a little white board that she and her support team of friends carry around. But Yvonne can more than speak, she inspires.

In the video that Her World had made about her, nobody was more eloquent than Yvonne herself. She spoke of her disease and her efforts to get treatment ( only found in the States) with a disposition so cheery, you wouldn't think that she had struggled so much. She made her own t-shirts to sell and then wrote her book and through all these efforts, has managed to collect enough money to go through the surgery she needed. But meantime she still has to undergo more operations so she is looking to raise more funds. If you can help. please go to her blog where you will find a Paypal facility as well as details of her bank a/c.