PICKENS COUNTY, S.C. (WSPA) – Like many five-year-old girls, Nanci Stock’s daughter Liliana loves Barbie dolls, My Little Pony, and all things pink. Her mother couldn’t hold back tears thinking back to the past three weeks.
“Up to this point she was just a healthy little girl, playing outside, everything just completely normal,” Stock said.
Everything changed July 30th when Liliana fell down while playing around the house. “She was still crying hysterically and we knew at that point that something was wrong.” At the emergency room, she says they learned that “something” was a cancerous tumor – the size of a small basketball – attached to Liliana’s kidney. “The type of cancer she has is called a Wilms tumor, which is a really common childhood cancer.”
The fall, she says, caused that tumor to rupture.
“All those little cells just ruptured and spread throughout her abdomen.” She says Liliana underwent emergency surgery to remove the tumor and her right kidney. A year of chemotherapy and radiation started this week. “Just having to see her go through something like this is just not fair for a little five year old.”
An experience Stock says is hard for Liliana to understand. “She’s just confused about why she always has to go to the hospital.”
Those trips to the hospital in Greenville, taking off work, and expenses to homeschool her are taking a financial toll on the family. They set up a GoFundMe account asking for help. “Bills don’t stop just because someone gets sick.”
Looking back, Stock says she’s grateful for the fall that changed everything. “If we probably waited a few more months, probably would’ve been too late for her.”
Now, she says Liliana will keep fighting – not letting this tragic illness dull her bright smile. The organization ‘Fighting Injustice Together’ is also helping Liliana and her family.