Naugatuck Child, 5, Battles Leukemia, Her Family Needs Help

NAUGATUCK, CT — A local family needs your help as Sophie Tzunum, who is 5-years-old, has been diagnosed with Standard Acute Lymphobastic Leukemia on Jan. 28, after being diagnosed with the flu last Friday, according to organizers of a GoFundMe page.

Already, almost $2,400 has been raised with an initial goal of $10,000. A total of 52 people have donated thus far.

According to the GoFundMe page, the parents are Mike and May, and Sophie's sister is Scarlet, who is 6, and she too battled leukemia previously.

Fundraising efforts are led by Carla Illas, a family friend.

"As a mom, I can’t imagine going through this with a child, let alone with two... My heart breaks for my friend May and their whole family and I don’t know how else to help them other than to continue to pray and try to lighten the (financial) load for this family with anything you can give.
With any hospital stay comes a lot of expense and time away from work, so please, any little bit helps. If you don’t personally have the ability to help financially, please share this," Illas posted.

In an update, Illas said, Sophie had two blood transfusions on Wednesday and her first round of chemotherapy.

"Let’s continue to pray, send good vibes and love to Sophie and the whole Tzunum family. Thank you to everyone who has prayed, donated and shared this," she wrote.

If you'd like to view the GoFundMe page, please click here.

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