A fund has been set up to help the parents of eight-month-old Hermella Mammo, who won a temporary injunction Dec. 7 to stop doctors from taking their daughter off life support without their consent last week.
READ MORE: Alberta couple granted more time before doctors may take daughter off life support
Hermella was declared brain dead in August, but her parents, Anna Motsyk and Will Mammo, said in September her condition began improving.
“We were told that our daughter is dead on Aug. 17. And then on Sept. 23, we were told that she is alive,” Mammo said. “That is beyond crazy… And now we are told she is recovering, but it’s not significant enough to get to a meaningful recovery.”
When she was two-and-a-half months old, she was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer, called an adrenal cortical tumor. Hermella’s parents said she was cancer-free following chemotherapy, but in September, doctors discovered a viral infection, which led to her current condition.
“We are not here to keep our daughter on life-support forever. That’s not our wish. But if our daughter is improving, we’re not going to stand back and say, ‘that’s it for her.’”
Mammo said they were shocked on Dec. 2 when doctors called to tell them their decision to take her off life support.
A judge then granted the temporary injunction on Monday, Dec. 7, and will rule on the case Jan. 4. The do not resuscitate (DNR) order remains in place.
A group of University of Lethbridge students – friends and classmates of Mammo – are advocating for baby Hermella’s life support to be extended longer than Jan. 4. They are trying to bring others into the fight, as they believe the more voices on their side can help sway the decision.
“Give her a chance, give her an opportunity. Don’t limit her success to a certain day, to a certain time,” said friend Paul Tokode.
“The family, their holding her, their being subjective with her,” added other friend, Bernard Shaw Igodan. “If the baby is moving and the baby is responding to the environment, I think they should still give her a chance.”
The group has also started a GofundMe page for Hermella to help the family with hospital and legal fees. Doing whatever they can to give the baby girl a fighting chance.
“I believe that she’s going to get better, she won the first fight, she’s going to win the second one,” Tokode said.
“I just want him to know that we are here, on a support level, on a friendship level. I mean all the good times we’ve had, we can share the bad times with him as well,” explained Mohamed Abdullahi, another friend of Mammo’s.
Mammo and Motsyk – who are from Lethbridge – have been at her bedside, sleeping at the hospital, since she was admitted to the Alberta Children’s Hospital in August. Mammo said they’ve been living off savings and he left his job.
On Monday, the non-profit group Open Arms Patient Advocacy Society set up a fund in Hermella’s name “after several offers to help the family financially.”
READ MORE: Alberta parents fighting to keep infant daughter alive choose pro bono lawyers
The Lethbridge parents had been representing themselves in court. But last Tuesday, two Calgary lawyers stepped forward to offer free legal services to the couple. A spokesperson said Mammo and Motsyk would speak to both lawyers and decide who will handle their case.
Alberta Health Services doctors—represented by many lawyers—had planned to terminate life support last Thursday.
With files from Sarolta Saskiw, Nancy Hixt and Erika Tucker, Global News
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