Toddler Uma Tomarchio of Italian immigrants is diagnosed with cancer again before Christmas
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A girl who battled two types of cancer while her Italian immigrant parents desperately raised hundreds of thousands of dollars to treat her disease has now been diagnosed with an even more aggressive cancer during Christmas week.
Four-year-old Uma Tomarchio was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia in 2020 before developing acute myeloid leukemia in May of this year.
Despite being born in Australia, Uma has not been covered by Medicare because her parents, Giuseppe Tomarchio and Lucia Gardini, moved to Melbourne seven years ago on work visas and are non-citizens.
He prompted family friend Megan Mahon to start a fundraiser in GoFundMe to raise $300,000 for a bone marrow transplant that will save Uma’s life.
After successfully raising the money and receiving the transplant, Uma was declared ‘cancer free’ at the end of October, until the family was devastated to learn just before Christmas that their little girl now has lymphoma.
A family was left torn apart after their four-year-old daughter, Uma Tomarchio (pictured), was diagnosed with another aggressive cancer: lymphoma.
Uma, who ‘loves Barbies and ponies’, was first diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia in 2020 before developing acute myeloid leukemia in May of this year.
Ms Mahon wrote on the GoFundMe page on Christmas Day: ‘And this is Christmas… I really wish I could tell you a feel-good Christmas story about Uma. Unfortunately, that is not the case.
She revealed that Uma had “become ill in early December” after receiving the bone marrow transplant just over a month ago.
“She was admitted to the hospital with a fever,” he continued.
“Within days, she deteriorated and was sent to the ICU with large amounts of fluid and swollen lymph nodes in her neck.”
Uma underwent dialysis while fluids and toxins were drained from her body, according to Ms Mahon.
“Eventually, he was diagnosed with EBV, the Epstein-Barr virus. Doctors believe that the virus (which is responsible for glandular fever and can make even healthy people feel unwell) was present in the bone marrow donor’s cells,” she said.
“Devastatingly, earlier in the week, Uma was diagnosed with lymphoma, cancer of the lymphatic system. It is known that for an immunocompromised person, contracting EBV is a risk factor for developing lymphoma.’
Ms Mahon said her family and close friends “were still reeling from this news and can’t believe this beautiful girl must once again find the strength to fight a different kind of cancer.”
He asked readers to “say a prayer” for Uma and her family this Christmas as she battles lymphoma.
Uma has not been covered by Medicare because her parents, Giuseppe Tomarchio and Lucia Gardini, are immigrants from Italy who came to Australia seven years ago on a work visa (pictured with her father Giuseppe)
Family friend Megan Mahon started a GoFundMe fundraiser to raise $300,000 for a bone marrow transplant that would save Uma’s life
$390,000 was raised through fundraising and Uma received a bone marrow transplant in October. However, in early December, the girl began to feel bad again and the doctors found out that she now had lymphoma.
Uma’s parents, Lucia Gardini and Giuseppe Tomarchio, desperately tried to raise money for a $300,000 bone marrow transplant for their daughter earlier this year after she was diagnosed with AML.
His private health insurer told them it wasn’t covered and the hospital demanded half the payment, $150,000, before scheduling the operation.
The family opened up about the ordeal with Carrie Bickmore on Ten’s The Project in August.
“She is a very sweet girl, very happy, she is always smiling, even in the hospital when she is very sick, she always finds a way to smile,” Ms Gardini told Bickmore.
“One night she was very sick, vomiting and with a fever and she just looked at me and said ‘I’m not going to fly to heaven mom don’t worry, I’m staying with you’,” she said.
“Even then, at the time, she was trying to make me feel better.”
The Project host, overcome with emotion, struggled to respond, managing a ‘wow’ as she held back tears.
An emotional Carrie Bickmore fought back tears speaking to Uma’s parents in August at The Project (pictured)
“Uma was diagnosed with leukemia (acute lymphoblastic) two years ago, she responded well to treatment at first and went into remission immediately,” explained her father, Giuseppe.
“But he relapsed, and the disease morphed into a rarer, more aggressive form.”
Ms Gardini told Bickmore that she “went through a lot of chemotherapy and we were just beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel.”
“We can’t go do it to Italy for various reasons, especially because that trip is not safe for her at the moment.”
The family had once tried to return to Italy, but Uma had a seizure before getting on the plane.
‘Uma was born here, she was in and out of the hospital for two years, the doctors know her, the nurses know her, she knows the place as a second home.’
Lucia Galdini and Giuseppe Tomarchio revealed their struggles trying to raise money to help their daughter (pictured)
Ms. Mahon explained that the family has lived here for seven years after arriving as students and they are working towards their permanent residency, but are currently on work visas.
“Giuseppe is a partner in a business with his cousins, pays taxes and employs more than 20 Australians,” said Ms Mahon.
“The business is still young and was hit hard by Covid.”
“The family are active members of their local community and contribute to society, but still, due to the complicated visa situation, they are not covered by Medicare for this life-saving treatment.”
The family was told that their application for permanent residency would not be approved due to Uma’s state of health.
“We are giving Australians jobs, paying taxes, doing everything we can to make this country better and being a good part of the community,” said Ms Gardini.
The Melbourne family has lived in Australia for seven years (in the photo, from left to right: Solejai, Lucia, Uma and Giuseppe)
Until 20 August 1986, babies born in Australia were automatically Australian citizens, but after that the law was changed so that children met one of two criteria.
One or both parents must be Australian citizens; or they must have lived in Australia from birth to 10 years.
According to the Medicare Australia website: ‘Medicare is Australia’s universal health insurance plan. It guarantees all Australians (and some foreign visitors) access to a wide range of health and hospital services at little or no cost.
For those who have a Medicare card, the cost of essential operations at a public hospital is free in most cases.
Daily Mail Australia has contacted the federal health department for comment.
The GoFundMe page for Uma and her devastated family has raised over $390,000 so far.