“We cannot forget the stories of individuals who are no longer with us.”
Japreet
2005 –
2013
She was a happy child. She loved art. Japreet’s condition was a complete mystery. With a family that had no history of serious medical issues, Japreet’s physical health was strange and scary. When she was eight, she was suffering fevers three or four times a year. She caught pneumonia and was in and out of hospital. They discovered that Japreet had a STAT 1 mutation, a primary immunodeficiency. Japreet went back to hospital after getting shingles. STAT 1 was targeting her major organs. Her bloodwork revealed that she had zero white blood cells. It seemed like the only option for Japreet’s improvement was a bone marrow transplant. She went through a week of intensive chemo. She was ill after the transplant. She was vomiting regularly and had to be admitted to ICU with a breathing tube. Her health deteriorated. The HLH was back and taking over her body. The family was told that her organs would start to fail. An experimental medication from England was brought over to wipe out the HLH, but it proved useless. First her liver started the fail, then her kidneys, and then her heart. On October 31st, 2013 Japreet passed away. Japreet’s family created Japreet’s Art Scholarship with Immunodeficiency Canada. You can read her full story on the website.