E, NPC patient's final journey

The following article appeared in a January 2010 edition of The New Paper :

Just 5 minutes on stage gave him strength to fight cancer

Student endures to fulfil dream of performing solo in concert

Egan Supharta Mercubuwono has only one thing on his New Year's to-do list: Live. Last Sunday, he realised his dream of playing a solo piece on his flute before a packed audience at the Victoria Concert Hall. Now, he wants merely to make it to school when it reopens on Monday. Unlike most others, Egan will have to take it one day at a time this year. The reason: The Yuying Secondary School student was diagnosed with stage three nose cancer in September. At the concert, with eyes shut in deep concentration, Egan's fingers danced over his instrument at his school's annual concert. "It is very painful to play the flute as my neck aches," said Egan. "I get headaches. "But when I play, it takes the pain away from my mind. It helps me forget my problems."

This article was written by Hedy Khoo and appeared in The New Paper of 20 Apr 2010 (I could not upload the article and am reproducing it here.):

He lived his life to the fullest : Mum

Flutist student who pledged to live through the year dies of cancer

He made a New Year resolution that he was going to live through the year. But that was not to be.
Despite his determination to win his battle against nose cancer, 16-year-old Egan Supharta Mercubuwono succumbed to the disease on Sunday.
The New Paper had published a report on the Yuying Secondary School student on Jan 1 this year for his performance of a flute solo during a school band concert at the Victoria Concert Hall.
He did that even though he was undergoing treatment for stage three nose cancer, which he was diagnosed with last September.
Speaking to The New Paper at his wake yesterday, his mother. Madam Khanti Mercubuwono, 42, an accounts assistant, said: "Even though my son's life was very short, he lived it to the fullest and refused to give up even in the face of death."
Egan's parents had teken him to Malacca on April 11 to seek treatment.
Said Madam Mercubuwono: "He had not been feeling well. Two days ago, on Sunday afternoon, we decided to bring him back to Singapore, but he passed away in the ambulance on the way back."
Madam Mercubuwono said the family held a simple Christian prayer ceremony on Sunday evening.
She said they will be leavingtoday for Jakarta for the burial.
His family moved there from Jakarta in 2006 as his mother wanted him to study here.
Almost a hundred of his schoolmates from Yuying Secondary School turned up in the pouring rain yesterday afternoon to bid a last farewell to him at the funeral parlour at Sin Ming Drive.
Among hem were members of the school band, of which Egan had been the drum major.
Many cried as they paid their last respects at his casket. But there were also smiles as they recalled their fond memories of Egan.
A close firend, Tan Guan Shin, 15, said that his friend, who could draw and learnt to play the guitar on his own, had wanted to be an artist or musician.
Recalling their last time together two weeks ago, he said: "The whole band visited him at his home. We had an assessment performance the next day at the Singapore Youth Festival.
"He made us promise him to get a distinction grade. I am glad we managed to live up to our promise."

He cheered us up
The youth added that he also admired Egan for his positive attitude.
He added: "He even cheered us up with jokes. He never once complained about his illness."
True to form, in his last Facebook status updates on March 30, Egan had written: "Impossible is nothing."
Other schoolmates considered Egan a natural leader and livewire.
Said close friend Amanda Ang, 15: "Everyone wanted to be friends with him. We liked him because he loved to joke. But we also respected him as a leader."
He was mischievous too, said schoolmate Kelly Wong, 15.
"He liked to stick his leg out and cause us to trip, but we never could get angry with him because he would win us over with his smile," she said.
Among their fondest memories of him was during a class in January.
Recalled Jasmine Koh, 16: " We each had to introduce ourselves to our new English teacher by saying our name and our CCA.
"When it was Egan's turn, he said, 'My name is Egan and I am a cancer survivor'."
Madam Mercubuwono said she had not known how popular her son had been at school until he became sick with cancer.
Touched by the many schoolmates who visited him throughout his illness, she said: "It was everyone's encouragement which gave us the strength."
Her son's death will be hard to take as he always made the home lively with his chats and laughter.
She added: "He taught me what strength is and to cherish life.
"I hope that anyone who has to battle with cancer will have his same spirit, to never give up - until the very end."

18 Apr, Sun, 9.30pm - Sms from K forwarded to me by WC : "He is much better now. No more pain. He is in Father's house. Happy. Thanks for helping him."

I was still staring at the sms and thinking, 'does this mean that he is gone', and yet at the same time half-hoping that I had got it wrong, when WC called. She shared my thoughts about the sms. We decided that WC should contact K.

WC called me again. It had been confirmed. He was gone, passed away in the ambulance while on the way back to Singapore.

E's family arranged for a one day wake in Singapore for friends and schoolmates to say their 'goodbyes' before they brought him home to Jakarta for burial.

WC, 2 CSX volunteers and myself went to his wake on Monday, 19 Apr.

From his mum, we learnt that he had been warded in a Malacca hospital for 3 days where he had blood transfusion. KKH had earlier refused to give him further blood transfusion and Gleneagles had said there was no necessity for one.

On Sunday, 18 Apr, his parents were bringing him back to Singapore, but he passed away sometime after the departure from Malacca and before they even reached the Causeway.

We also learnt that it was the same friend who had reccommended the bio-...(?) treatment to him on Thursday, 15 Apr, and who had brought him and his parents to Malacca for TCM treatment on Sunday, 11 Apr. E had stayed in Malacca for 1 week, and we had no idea who the TCM was, his address as K had depended on this friend to lead the way. Neither do we know what sort of treatment he gave to E.

From what we undersood, this friend was one that K and E had met recently while at a hospital.

She might have meant well with her intentions to help E recover, but one must remember that there is a limit to how far one can go or how much one can do to help a cancer patient, especially one in E's condition, which was very advanced and had metastasized to the bones.