A former crown prosecutor who was fighting for the province to fund the cancer drug, Tykerb, has lost her battle with the disease.
Kelly Mah passed away on Monday at the age of 42, after battling breast cancer for nearly two years. During this time, she also fought with the Alberta government to fund the costly drug.
Tykerb was not covered in Alberta and cost patients about $4,000 a month.
“That would have drained our life savings in a short period of time, and we would have been dependent on other people that’s not a position we wanted to be in.” Mah said at the time.
In February of this year, Mah won the fight to fund the Tykerb.
“Both committees have now seen this drug should be approved and they made a recommendation to me in that regard,” Health Minister Gene Zwosdesky said in February. “From a medical point of view and from a public point of view my heart was always there.”
Mah spoke to Global News at the time, and was thrilled about the decision.
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“A huge weight has just been lifed off our shoulders literally,” she said. “It gives me hope that I can see her grow up, get married and have children.”
But soon after taking the drug, Mah’s family realized the drug wasn’t working.
“It’s just one of these things, these drugs don’t work for everybody,” said her husband, Rick Stroppel on Wednesday.
Mah’s loss, those close to Mah are not forgetting the great battle that she won. Because of her efforts, 48 women have been approved for funding for the drug.
“We hope and pray that this drug will work for some of those women and their families won’t have to go thru what we’ve gone thru,” said Stroppel.
Katia Tonkin, Mah’s oncologist, acknowledged her late patient’s achievement in a written statement to Global News on Wednesday. “Kelly made a real difference putting her suffering aside and working for other women. Without her Lapatinib (Tykerb) would not have been made available to Alberta women.”
Alberta’s Health Minister, Gene Zwozdesky, also expressed his condolences. “Kelly was a wonderful and sincere person, and a woman of great courage who never gave up. She will be sadly missed by all of us who knew her,” he wrote
“Everytime I look at (my daughter) Audrey, I see a piece of Kelly,” said Stroppel. “She was a hero. A hero for me, a hero for Audrey, a hero for women in the same situation as her.”
With files from Linda Nguyen.
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