THE BIG C WON’T STOP ME

Angelique Jonas welcomed her baby boy, Ethan-Luc, while fighting a rare form of cancer

- KIM ABRAHAMS

SHE can’t recall the last time she had a good night’s rest. Her nine-month-old son keeps her up at night but Angelique Jonas doesn’t mind. She’s just grateful they’re both alive – a year ago it wasn’t clear if they’d make it.

Angelique (31) was just six weeks into her pregnancy when oncologists discovered four lesions on her brain.

Cancer, she was told – and the lesions, as the tumours are called – were causing pressure and bleeding on the vital organ so she needed an emergency operation.

Then came another shock: it was melanoma, a type of cancer that occurs in the cells that gives skin its colour. Melanoma typically starts in the skin before it spreads to other organs, including the brain. But tests showed there were no other cancer cells in Angelique’s body, making hers a rare case.

Angelique, who’s from George in the Western Cape, was desperate to protect her unborn baby. She and her husband Rodney (40) wanted a sibling for their daughter, Avah (7), and had suffered a miscarriage the previous year.

MORE ON MELANOMA

Melanoma is less common than other skin cancers, but it’s the most dangerous.

It is the fifth-most prevalent cancer among South African men and the sixth-most prevalent cancer among women, according to the Cancer Association of South Africa.

Although the exact cause of melanoma isn’t clear, genetics and exposure to ultraviolet radiation from sunlight or tanning lamps and beds increases the risk.

Angelique says she didn’t spend much time in the sun as a child and there’s no history of skin cancer in her family.