Actor Eka Darville Appeals For Financial Help After Losing His 10-Year-Old Son To Cancer

Jessica Jones‘ actor Eka Darville‘s son, Mana Darville, was diagnosed with a rare and aggressive form of glioneuronal brain cancer early last year. Mana, 10, was told he’d only have two weeks to live.

The actor decided to put his career on hold and even moved to the U.S. for his young son.

The family started a GoFundMe page that raised thousands of dollars to help pay for his treatments, including a high-risk marathon surgery. Through the page, followers were getting updates on Mana’s health.

Although the family was told Mana wouldn’t make it longer than eight weeks, Mana went on to live for eight more months.

“Mana went from not being able to walk to doing ninja rolls off the side of the bed, rock climbing, swimming & not just getting out of the wheelchair but running unassisted!” Eka shared in one of their updates.

Despite this joyous post, on October 18, Eka shared the news of his son’s declining health after months of stability. He said Mana’s “tumor has clawed its way back and is growing faster than ever” and once again asked for his followers’ help and prayers.

Mana died days later, and Eka’s mother, Malaika Darville, shared the news through a video and some parting words.

“Mana managed to touch more hearts than most do in a whole lifetime,” Malaika added.

She also made an Instagram post sharing a poem about her grandson. Then, she talked about her grandson and the rest of their family.

Last week, Eka posted an update just a month after the loss.

“You’ve been on this journey with us for almost a year. The triumphs and the heartbreaks have been monumental & through it all, your support has been the wind under our wings, that’s carried us further than most would have dared to dream…

‘Grateful’ doesn’t even come close to the immensity of all we feel for you… thank you, thank you, THANK YOU… and… our journey isn’t over yet.

We are reaching out with one final and perhaps most difficult request for support…

Last month, our magical son and center of our universe, Mana Trinity Darville, took his last breath.

We are shattered & will spend the rest of our lives longing to have just one more moment in the sunshine of his light.

As we put the pieces of our hearts back together in a new mosaic that is forever expanded, we’re faced with the practical realities of all that lies ahead…

We are proud to say that every single dollar that you helped us raise, was spent directly on Mana’s medical treatments. Towards the end, as the urgency mounted to a fever pitch and the sleepless nights became sleepless months, the medical bills piled up far beyond what we raised. We completely depleted our life savings and ate into the equity in our house.”