Former UK soccer player-turned-reality TV star, Ashley Cain, has announced on social media that his baby daughter, Azaylia, died on Saturday after battling a rare, aggressive cancer. She was 8 months old.
Azaylia Diamond Cain was born August 10, 2020, to parents Cain and partner Safiyya Vorajee. Cain, a former Coventry City soccer player in England, documented Azaylia’s life on Instagram as she underwent treatments after being diagnosed with acute myelogenous leukemia (AML), according to the couple.
AML is a cancer of the blood and bone marrow, according to the Mayo Clinic. The term “acute” denotes the disease’s rapid progression. AML is rare, accounting for only about 1 percent of all cancers, according to the American Cancer Society.
On Sunday, both Cain and Vorajee announced that Azaylia had died.
“Rest In Paradise Princess,” Cain posted on Sunday. “I will always hold you in my heart until I can hold you again in heaven.”
He also updated his Instagram bio stating she passed away on Saturday.
“You are my Angel my heartbeat my soul, RIP my precious baby, you will always be with me like a handprint on my heart,” posted Vorajee, an aesthetic practitioner.
The former soccer player was featured on MTV’s reality competition shows, “The Challenge” and “Ex on the Beach.” Fans rallied around the new parents as they shared updates throughout Azaylia’s life. A GoFundMe campaign set up by Cain and Vorajee to help pay for her treatments raised over $2.2 million.
“We will be donating any extra money to other children and their families in the same situation as us—we pledged to give back to this community from the moment we were thrust into it and that is something we will always honor,” a statement on the GoFundMe campaign reads.
