Who is Mathiwos Wondu?
Mathiwos , the third and youngest son of his parents Mr. Wondu Bekele and Mrs. Amsale Beyene, was born on June 17, 1999 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Until he celebrated his second birthday he was very healthy, energetic and his growth was corresponding to his age. A few days after celebrating his second birthday, heun-expectedly became very ill, and after clinical investigation he was confirmed to be ALL-type Leukemia Cancer patient.
He had been under treatment for 26 months. Even though there is no conducive environment for Cancer treatment, the staff of Medical Faculty of Addis Ababa University , commonly known as Black Lion Hospital, tried everything at their disposal to save his life. Due to lack of cancer medicines here in Ethiopia his family was forced to import from overseas almost all of the very expensive medicines that were recommended by his doctors.
Due to Mathy's family unreserved, all round commitment and dedication and cooperation of personnel of the Medical Faculty, Mathiwos was widely believed to be one of the best-treated patients ever in the hospital. Because of this Mathy was seen as a good reference and hope to all cancer patients in Ethiopia. After 22 months of comparative improvement, unexpectedly it was found out that his Leukemia disease relapsed, accordingly the medical Board of the Hospital decided that there was no proper medication left for Mathiwos here in Ethiopia and refereed him to the developed world for possible Bone Marrow transplant which is not possible in Ethiopia and in Africa except South Africa and Egypt.
After intensive search for overseas treatment possibilities in South Africa, Europe, India and North America, National Cancer Institute (NCI/NIH) of Bethesda, MD, USA agreed to accept Mathy for further treatment option including Bone Marrow transplant. Mathy accompanied by his mother and his elder brother (donor) was about to fly to Washington . A ll necessary conditions for the trip such as round trip air ticket, accommodation , visa , etc have been arranged . Before they leave , unfortunately, Mathiwos passed away on September 24, 2003, while he was under treatment at the Black Lion Hospital .
A group of p eople of different races and nationalities from three different continents , many of whom without knowing each other, tried together everything that is humanly possible to save his life. Even though their concerted efforts couldn't save Mathy's life, the group , without being frustrated by the unexpected outcome , decided to strengthen and consolidate their efforts to honor him and his cause, and as a result established MWECS.