If you were to see Soraïa now, it would be hard to imagine the ordeal this sweet, curious and endearing little girl has been through. Today, she is brimming with energy, thrilled to be back with her friends at school, proud to attend her karate lessons, able to play her Rainbow Fish game… not to mention dream of a husky dog with pale blue eyes.

But not so long ago, things weren’t going very well. Spring 2024 started with simple symptoms: the flu, chest pain, an allergy to medication, joint pain. “Kids’ stuff,” they said. Until the day of the phone call urging her parents to hurry to the hospital. Test results showed cancer cells in their daughter’s blood. The family was rocked by the shocking diagnosis of acute myeloblastic leukemia. Soraïa was just seven years old.

Soon, the CHEO became her second home. Blood tests, chemotherapy, isolation, loss of appetite, feeding tube, liver and pancreatic pains, fungi in the lungs… she endured a plethora of pains and treatments with admirable courage. Even when everything hurt and the whole world seemed to weigh on her shoulders, she rode a bike through the cancer unit and stopped in to visit with other child patients to see how they were doing. Such empathy in one so young!

Soraïa is a true warrior with a big heart – a girl who never stopped dreaming of playing in the park, going to the movies, and even practicing yoga.

She was able to go back to school (grade 2) in March 2025. She plays with her brother Ilyan and sister Sama, thinks of her future – ponders becoming a nurse or police officer – and feels that her greatest strength is her courage. Her mother is her idol, and Soraïa’s fondest dream is simple: to live life surrounded by the people she loves.