Croatian Girl Who Traveled To CHOP For Potentially Lifesaving Treatment Passes Away
By Chelsea Karnash
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – A little girl who traveled to Philadelphia from Croatia for potentially lifesaving cancer treatment has, unfortunately, passed away.
On Wednesday, the Children's Hospital of Pennsylvania released a statement on the death of five-year-old Nora Situm that reads:
We are very sorry for the loss of Nora Situm, and express our deepest sympathies to her parents, family, and many friends and supporters in Croatia. During the time Nora was in our care we were in awe of the tremendous courage and spirit displayed by her and her parents.
While we were all hopeful that Nora might benefit from the T-cell therapy trial, unfortunately she passed away before she was able to receive T-cell therapy. We believe that every child deserves a chance and Nora's parents and supporters went to extraordinary lengths to give that chance to her. We hope that her family, her supporters, and the people of Croatia find comfort in knowing they did all they could for this remarkable little girl.
We encourage those wishing to express their condolences to visit Nora's Facebook Page at www.facebook.com/noraforacro
Eyewitness News first focused on Situm in February in an exclusive interview (see previous story) when the child arrived in the United States to undergo a new gene therapy offered at CHOP.
"This is the only chance that she has. We don't know how small or big it is, but it's a chance. In Croatia there's no more chances," her mother Jiana Adanasovska said at the time.
Nora, who was battling leukemia, became a national figure in her country overnight after supporters rallied on social media to help her family raise the $800,000 necessary for the treatment.
