There are barely a few weeks remaining in Mitera Balkaran’s life. Balkaran has chosen to enjoy life to the fullest whereas most people could simply accept their destiny.
When Balkaran, a 32-year-old mechanical engineer, went to the hospital with a painless lump on her thigh, The Express first learned about her saga last year. When the swelling on her leg first appeared, she was initially informed that she had hives and that it will go away. Six weeks later, the bulge became bigger. She saw a different doctor, who after doing a number of tests identified her condition as Undifferentiated Pleomorphic High-grade Sarcoma (UPS).
In a previous interview with the Express, Balkaran characterized UPS.
She claimed that because UPS is so uncommon and nothing is known about it, it is referred to be the “lonely” cancer. Young people are randomly affected, and it usually starts in the limbs. It is deadly and aggressive.
Despite the bleak prognosis, Balkaran received aggressive care. The doctors decided that she needed to have her left leg amputated in order to survive.
Balkaran was born in Claxton Bay and now lives there with her husband. Balkaran has gone through more in the past 18 months than some people do in a lifetime. Balkaran received the all-clear following her cancer diagnosis in June 2021, but in May 2022, she tragically heard that the sickness had come back. Balkaran was dealing with a possible illness at a Belgium hospital when the Express spoke with her in August of last year.
Balkaran never wavered in her conviction that she was imparting lessons from her experiences to others, despite the unanticipated turn of events in her life. In order to preserve memories in the event that she went away, she disclosed to the Express last year that she had been filming her life on TikTok.
After learning further bad news on Tuesday, Balkaran set up a GoFundMe page. Her lungs, tummy, back, and pelvis had also been affected by cancer, which led physicians to predict that she had just a few weeks to live. “It is my last dying wish to have our dream Hindu wedding ceremony in Trinidad,” Balkaran stated in her GoFundMe appeal.
She added, “To dress up as a beautiful bride and have gorgeous photos for my loved ones to reminisce on.”
In Trinidad and Tobago, Balkaran lacks health insurance; as a result, a medical team would have to fly back with her. She has set a €40,000 ($291,292) fundraising target for her GoFundMe page. €28,262 was donated to the cause yesterday (205,812.36). The campaign will pay for Balkaran’s flight, travel-related medical costs, professional consultations, and whatever items are necessary to make her final hours as comfortable as possible.
• Visit https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-me-get-some-comfort?qid=cc599160ca8d7e1abc878b80f616d9f8 to donate.
