Emili is a young 19-year-old actress just starting out in her adult life. She has been studying the performing arts degree at AIM and in April this year Emili was diagnosed with stage 4 Hodgkin Lymphoma after feeling unwell for at least the last 4 years. Covid-19 targets the immune system and ironically lymphoma cancer is the cancer of the immune system. After multiple misdiagnoses, Emili’s message is keep fighting for a diagnosis because your life might very well depend on it.
Cancer in Covid is the story of a young woman in Western Sydney who deserves to be heard after so many years of being ignored.
“Day 4 of my first Chemo cycle I remember trying to go from one side of my room to the other, I legit crawled like a baby, so de-humanising. If I can stop one person going through this, I will feel like I’ve accomplished something. Everything happens for a reason right?
I’m in the age group known to be affected by this type of cancer. Why wasn't it investigated earlier? Now I am enduring 8 days of Chemo with day 9 to 21 for recovery and this will be repeated at least 4 times. I’ll get through this but I can’t help thinking about an earlier diagnosis and how that would have impacted on my journey now.
I want to educate young people about how important it is to make them listen to you, make them keep looking if you aren’t feeling any better. I’m young, I should be able to jump around, dance and have fun with my friends. I couldn’t do all that and deep down I knew something was wrong.
My Mum and the passion of her European spirit got me a diagnosis, it shouldn’t be like that.” - Emili Milosevska September 2020.
Cancer in Covid will draw its narrative from gut wrenching journal entries presented to camera, home footage recorded by Emili while in hospital on her darkest days and interviews with the family who are getting her through this, the friends who are supporting her and the medics who are healing her.