Reality star and former footballer Ashley Cain has said his nine-week-old daughter is “fuelling the flame of hope for us all” after revealing she has been diagnosed with a rare form of leukaemia.
Cain, who appeared in the MTV show Ex On The Beach, shared the sad news about his baby girl Azaylia on Saturday, saying it was “the single most upsetting, terrifying and heartbreaking experience I have ever been through”.
Doctors are treating her for “a very rare and aggressive case” of acute myeloid leukaemia, the star said.
In an update shared from hospital, he thanked his followers for their support for his “little lion” and said he was feeling positive.
Speaking in a video message, Cain said: “I have hope, I have faith that she’s going to surprise everyone. And day by day, she’s surprising us all. Us, the doctors, everybody. And not only that, she’s doing it with absolute style and grace.
“So we’re going to keep fighting, we’re going to keep working and we’re taking it step by step. I think that’s the main thing at the minute, we’re taking it step by step, day by day. As long as we keep having these promising results we’re gonna be all right, aren’t we?”
He continued: “As long as there’s a glimmer of hope, it doesn’t matter how much, how little, we’ll hang on to that and we’ll use that to fuel us to the stars and back.”
Thanking his 491,000 Instagram followers for their well-wishes, Cain said: “I just wanted everybody to know that honestly, in times like this you cling on to every bit of faith and every bit of power that you can…
“So all the positive messages and all the prayers, 100% trust me they’re helping and we are feeling the love, aren’t we. So thank you. Thank you for the positivity from me and little Azaylia. We’re fighting. We’re strong. And we’re gonna beat this. So thank you for the messages. Keep it up. Keep up the prayers for us.”
Azaylia Diamond Cain was born on 10 August weighing 7lbs 10oz.
At the time, Cain shared pictures of his newborn and said she had “opened new doors to my life and my heart”.
Azaylia’s mum, Safiyya Vorajee, also shared a post on Instagram following her daughter’s diagnosis, calling her little girl “the most precious gift this world has ever given me”.
