MALIA ATUATASI / 1991-2004
Steadfast girl
succumbs to leukemia
Thirteen-year-old Malia Atuatasi of Waianae lost her battle to leukemia after she underwent two bone marrow transplants.
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She was diagnosed with leukemia when she was 6 years old. Her father, Milovale, who works as a cement truck driver for Ameron Hawaii, went on family leave a few weeks before a concrete strike was held by unionized workers, to care for his daughter.
Malia underwent her first bone marrow transplant in February. Fellow workers held a fund-raiser that month to help pay for her medical bills.
On Oct. 5, she underwent a second transplant after she suffered a relapse during the summer. The transplant was successful, but her organs began to fail from the radiation and chemotherapy treatments she had undergone prior to her transplant, said her mother, Frances.
Frances Atuatasi described her daughter as a quiet yet stubborn girl who was determined to overcome her battle with cancer. "She refused to give up," she said. "She said, 'This was the one that is going to cure me.'"
Malia enjoyed swimming and canoe paddling and listened to country and Disney songs. "She was a really good child," her mother said.
Those who would like to make a donation to assist the Atuatasi family with Malia's medical bills can go to any Bank of Hawaii branch under the name Ho'Aloha O Malia.
She is also survived by sister Marleina and brother Micah. Funeral arrangements are pending.