Instead of enjoying his first year at the University of Victoria, a Campbell River teen will travel to Europe several times in the coming months for treatment of a rare and aggressive cancer, a treatment not available in Canada.
Eighteen-year-old Jonah Shankar was one week from joining his high school classmates and friends at grad this year when he suddenly started experiencing severe headaches, loss of balance and numbness. He was in pain and had trouble swallowing, talking and walking.
Doctors discovered an inoperable, life-threatening glioma tumour invading his brain stem, a rare cancer that mostly strikes people under age 20.
Jonah, who had been accepted to the software engineering program at UVic, watched his friends’ graduation via video from his hospital bed, dressed in his grad vest and bow tie.
His parents, Cleon and Charlotte Shankar, were together for 10 years before Jonah, their first child, was born in 2000. Their second son, Marcus, was born three years later, and the family set off pursuing passions of hiking, climbing and sports.
Jonah excelled in high school sports with the Carihi Tyees, playing soccer, volleyball and basketball and running cross-country and track.
“He’s an incredible athlete,” said Sophia Shankar, his aunt. “He’s also really strong academically, a brilliant all-around student. I think the biggest disappointment in all of this for him is he really, really was excited about UVic.”
Jonah has been taking courses online so he doesn’t fall too far behind, his aunt said.
In Europe, Jonah will get chemotherapy via Convection Enhanced Delivery (CED) at the Harley Street Clinic in London, a private hospital that specializes in cancer and neurosciences.
Between chemo infusions, he will travel to Germany to a clinic in Cologne known for its leading-edge immunotherapy.
He will have to travel to Europe several times over the next eight months. The Shankars hope to raise $350,000 to cover travel and the medical costs of a multi-faceted attack, which includes implanting the CED system (to inject drugs directly into the tumour), chemo and immunotherapy, medications and supplements, and diagnostic scans. (Their fundraising page is here.)
“The story is so much more than Jonah and his ailment,” Shankar said.
“It’s been such an amazing story about this community, how it’s come forward. This ultimately is helping other people who also are diagnosed with this. It is a very new treatment and they learn a lot every time they do it.
“So beyond helping Jonah, the knowledge may grow and help future families. It’s a positive outcome of something so tragic, we feel so much positive energy coming from it.”
