An Afghan boy who received cancer treatment through the generosity of Canadian soldiers and a church in Edmonton has died.
Six-year-old Namatullah passed away Thursday, Canadian Press said.
His family brought him to the Canadian base in Kandahar on Tuesday after he had stopped breathing. Doctors couldn't revive him.
The child was first carried to the Canadian base in February with a massive cancerous growth on his face. The boy's disease was deemed too far advanced to cure, but Canadian troops helped raise $13,000 to send him to a cancer hospital in Pakistan.
He was given chemotherapy and painkillers in Pakistan, which helped to ease his suffering and shrink the tumour. The treatment was initially successful and Pakistani doctors continued treatment to remove the tumour.
But the cancer returned and the boy was sent home to Afghanistan to live out his final days in comfort.
The treatment was paid for by church donations thanks to a Canadian Army ambulance driver, Cpl. Brian Sanders.
He took photographs of Namatullah and e-mailed them to the North Edmonton Christian Fellowship church, which raised thousands of dollars to help with the treatment.
