Young mum holds onto hope as baby battles leukemia

Inside the Colonial War Memorial Hospital, where machines beep through the night and hospital corridors never seem to rest, 21-year-old Grace Whippy sits beside her baby boy holding onto hope.

At just eight months old, Peter Daubitu is battling leukemia, a blood cancer detected shortly after birth.

For Ms Whippy, of Lovoni, Ovalau, with maternal links to Totoya, Lau, motherhood began not with celebration, but with fear and separation.

“I knew he had cancer when I just gave birth to him,” she said.

Ms Whippy recalled how her son was taken straight to the Paediatric Oncology Unit after delivery while she remained in the postnatal ward.

Separated from her newborn, she made repeated walks to the ward every few hours to feed him expressed milk by cup.

Even at night, she returned at 9pm for the final feed before leaving him again until morning.

“It was heartbreaking,” she said. “He wasn’t beside me.”

At first, Ms Whippy blamed herself and wondered whether something had gone wrong during pregnancy.

But doctors later reassured her that leukemia was not caused by anything she had done.

Since then, baby Peter has started chemotherapy and receives daily injections as part of his treatment.

Ms Whippy said she has slowly begun to notice signs of improvement.

After weeks apart, mother and child were finally placed in the same room — a moment she described as emotional relief in the middle of pain.

Her husband continues supporting the family whenever he can, while WOWS Kids Fiji has assisted with transport and basic necessities, including diapers and wipes.

Despite the challenges, Ms Whippy says she wants other mothers facing similar struggles to remain strong.

“We have to be strong for our children and keep faith,” she said.

For baby Peter, the battle is far from over. But for his mother, hope remains stronger than fear.