Fighting for Little Lada: A Three-Year-Old’s Battle Against Cancer and Time

When Lada Kochneva was born, her parents could never have imagined that by age three, their daughter would be fighting for her life in a hospital far from home. What began as a small lump on her leg — something doctors dismissed as a simple abscess — turned out to be a deadly

stage IV rhabdomyosarcoma, a rare and aggressive cancer.

The diagnosis came late, two long months after the first symptoms appeared. By then, the disease had spread, leaving her parents crushed with guilt and disbelief. “If only they had tested it earlier,” her mother said, her voice trembling. “Maybe she’d still be healthy. Maybe she’d still be laughing.”

The Mistake That Changed Everything

It started innocently — a small bump on Lada’s left buttock. Doctors said it was probably an infection, drained it, and sent the family home. No biopsy, no histology, no warning. But the lump returned, bigger and harder. Soon, Lada began to limp and cry from pain in her leg and groin.

An ultrasound finally revealed the truth — a 7-centimeter tumor pressing deep inside her abdomen. The biopsy confirmed every parent’s nightmare: cancer.

In April 2025, doctors diagnosed alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma, already in the most advanced stage, with metastases. “We lost precious time,” her father said. “For two months, we were told it was nothing. And now, we’re fighting for her life.”

A Journey for Survival

The family refused to accept defeat. After the first round of chemotherapy in Poland, they packed their bags and flew to Israel — to a hospital known for giving children like Lada a chance when others had lost hope.

Since arriving, Lada has endured three powerful cycles of chemotherapy, each one leaving her weaker and paler. Her blood counts dropped so dangerously low that she required nine blood and platelet transfusions to survive.

On August 27, surgeons removed the tumor from her left buttock. It was a difficult operation — the mass had wrapped around muscles and nerves — but the doctors managed to save most of the muscle.

When she woke up, she was in pain, trembling, afraid to move. For days, she cried whenever the nurses touched her leg. But on the second day, with tears streaming down her cheeks, she tried to stand. “Our little girl is so brave,” her mother whispered. “Even when she’s in pain, she keeps fighting.”

The Road Ahead

In two weeks, the family will receive the results of Lada’s post-surgery biopsy. Those results will determine what happens next — but the protocol already calls for

four more rounds of chemotherapy, eight radiation treatments, and months of maintenance therapy.

It will take at least eight months — if they can afford it.

The family has already spent everything they had to reach Israel. Their savings are gone, their resources drained. “We used every penny to get her here,” her mother says. “Now we have nothing left — except faith.”

Living Through Fear and Faith

Every day in the hospital is a test of strength — for Lada, for her parents, for everyone who loves her. There are moments of laughter when she plays with her toy cat, and moments of unbearable silence when her fever spikes or her numbers drop.

At night, her mother sits beside her bed, whispering prayers. “Sometimes I’m so scared I can’t breathe,” she admits. “But then I look at her — my brave little girl — and I know we can’t give up.”

Lada misses her home, her toys, and her friends. She dreams of running again without pain, of waking up without tubes or needles. For now, she hugs a small stuffed cat and whispers to it like a friend. “He’s my little angel,” she says.

The Cost of a Miracle

The cost of treatment is crushing — far beyond what the family can afford. Bills arrive faster than they can pay them. Each transfusion, each chemotherapy cycle, each hospital night adds up.

They’ve already received help from kind strangers and other families, including a generous donation of $50,000 from the parents of another child treated under the same foundation. But the total cost is still overwhelming.

Without more funds, the hospital will be forced to halt treatment — a delay that could cost Lada her life.

A Plea from the Heart

Her parents have reached the point where pride no longer matters. They are begging — not for comfort, but for survival.

“We’ve spent everything we own to get here,” they wrote. “We’re terrified of losing her because we can’t pay for the next treatment. Please — every donation, every prayer, every share gives our daughter another chance to live.”

Lada is just three years old. Her favorite color is pink. She loves cartoons, flowers, and her little cat. She doesn’t understand the word “cancer.” She only knows that she wants to go home — to run, to play, to live.

Hope Lives in Every Heart

Right now, her parents are holding on to faith — faith that strangers will hear their cry, that compassion will reach across borders, that someone out there will help them finish what they started.

Lada’s life depends on it.

They’ve seen miracles before — in every breath she’s taken, in every time she’s beaten the odds. They believe one more is still possible.

Because for them, giving up is not an option.

And for a little girl named Lada, hope is the medicine that keeps her heart beating.