MOSSEL BAY NEWS - When Mossel Bay’s Alba Overbeeke started experiencing knee pain just before her 13th birthday, her family never expected that the cause would have been anything other than the recent fall she had had, or karate practice.
However, on 6 May, just three days after she turned 13, she and her family received the news from Life Bay View Private Hospital that she had been rediagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL).
Alba now needs a stem cell transplant.
Alba the Brave
She had first been diagnosed at just four years old, and with a boatload of courage considering the years of chemotherapy, hospital visits, procedures, blood tests and uncertainty, she had gone into recovery.
Her strength throughout quickly earned her the nickname ‘Alba the Brave’, and in 2025, she and her family celebrated her complete remission, being free from cancer for a full five years.
Her mother, Esther Jacobs, told Mossel Bay Advertiser that the doctors had informed the family that it is rare for someone to relapse after achieving complete remission. It was due to the rarity of this that the family hadn’t thought twice about the knee pain at first.
Since the May diagnosis, Alba has been up and down between Cape Town and Mossel Bay for treatment, which has been more aggressive than the first time around. Jacobs and Alba’s father, Raoul Overbeeke, were constantly at her side, supporting her.
“This is something she 100% needs. Our family have always been drivers, raising awareness around this and encouraging people to become a donor, even though we thought Alba would never need it. We have been avid campaigners, and I have recruited over 100 donors over the last few years,” said Jacobs.
This was all done through DKMS, an international non-profit organisation dedicated to fighting blood cancer and blood disorders with a diverse stem cell donor registry.
Becoming a donor
To become a donor, visit www.dkms-africa.org, where you will find out if you are eligible to donate or not. If you meet all the criteria, fill in your details, and a sample kit will be couriered to you.
Once received, all you need to do is swab your inner left and right cheeks and gums, pop this in an envelope and then a courier will collect it from you and take it to the lab. All at no cost to the potential donor.
The sample will then be examined to see if you will be a match with anyone needing a transplant.
“There is a one in about 100 000 chance of a match. That is why it is so important to increase the number of people on the donor register,” said Jacobs.
She said if there is a match, the process of extracting the stem cells is very similar to blood donation.
“Alba wants to be a major supporter and raise awareness about stem cell donation. You never know when someone in your own family might need one,” said Jacobs.
Special thanks
Jacobs said in addition to the stress of the diagnosis, Alba had become severely ill with a serious infection while in Mossel Bay last Thursday, 9 July.
She said it was a paediatrician at Life Bay View Private Hospital who had pulled her through the worst of the infection. “Dr David de Almeida was amazing. He basically saved her life and pulled her out of the woods,” she said.
In hospital, but coping
Alba is still in hospital in Cape Town where she is in a sterile isolation room in the haematology ward, until her white blood cell count increases.
To follow Alba’s journey and support the family, visit the Facebook page, Alba the Brave, and visit the BackaBuddy page: campaign/albas-second-battle-against-leukaemia.
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