“It is sad to watch her fighting for her life, brain fully alert” – mother appeals for help to save daughter battling liver failure

Aug 14, 2026 News

---

(Kaieteur News) – “It is sad to watch her fighting for her life, brain fully alert.” These are the words of Demise Fleming, a 62-year-old mother, who is pleading with the citizens of Guyana to help save her 34-year-old daughter Tonya Toshanna Paul’s life. Paul is suffering from liver failure.

On Wednesday, in a live streamed video on Facebook, Fleming said that her daughter got ill around the latter part of February this year. They visited a private medical institution for treatment but the doctors there had given up on her. Since then, she has swollen to three times her normal size due to the buildup of fluid.

She explained that, “The liver is damaged and spilling over the poisons to the rest of organs, but due to the love of God, she’s still alive, and from then to now, I took her to St. Joseph Mercy Hospital, where we did a CT scan, which show cirrhosis on the edges of the liver.”

The visibly distraught mother revealed that recent ultrasounds performed on her child show that the cirrhosis has taken over her entire liver and they were informed that this was the last step before she goes into total liver failure. Fleming went on to say that financially, it is getting harder as she is a single mother, taking care of her 90-year-old mother and her daughter.

What is currently keeping Paul alive is a procedure called a paracentesis. This is a medical procedure that uses a needle or thin plastic tube (catheter) to drain excess fluid—known as ascites—from the peritoneal cavity inside the abdomen. Doctors perform it either to diagnose the underlying cause of the fluid buildup or to relieve severe abdominal pressure and breathing difficulty.

The procedure costs the family $35,000 each time, and recently they have hit another bump in an already bumpy road. The radiologist is no longer able to effectively drain the fluids from Paul’s abdomen due to the volume present, which is making the procedure riskier as there is a chance other organs may be injured in the process.

“So, after I did a few there, and then he reached a backup where he cannot get through. I started to seek outside help, which was when I ended up at Sheriff Hospital at Leonora, where I learned that we can do something called an albumin shot, which is the protein to help the liver, the liver is not producing protein. All doctors say the liver has failed, but God said no. The liver cannot produce the albumin. So, what I does is pay for albumin shot, $30,000. The first time I paid $45,000, I’m so busy, I didn’t even know the amount…” she stressed.

Giving the viewers a breakdown of their expenses, she said that the albumin shot is now $30,000, the paracentesis is $25,000 with an additional $4000 to administer the medication, bringing the total to $61,000 to get her temporary relief.

There is also a doctor’s consultation of $6000, so that totals $67,000 and transportation from Linden to Leonora, the woman pays $30,000. Now that Paul’s situation has worsened the doctor has advised that she be taken every three days to get her albumin shot. With her blood count dropping to a 7.5 Fleming said that they were advised that her daughter’s kidneys could start failing next.

“All the roads is pointing to a liver transplant. Now, as a mother, a single mother, I’m waking up to the fact that I have to start thinking out the box, and at the age of 62 years old, it is kind of scaring me. I have to start thinking of being a donor to give her a piece of my liver if I’m compatible. Now on Thursday, I’m doing an interview with doctors in Brazil because I’m more comfortable with going to Brazil or the liver transplant than going to India. I’m kind of scared of that, but India or Brazil is the two options. The rest is kind of restricted and shut down to a long waiting list on the residents of the country, so I’m arranging that when the interview’s over, then finish Thursday, then I’m going to have to start raising funds. I’m trying to get somebody in America to start a GoFundMe…” she revealed.

Fleming disclosed that there is an MMG number which is Paul’s digital wallet where persons can donate money to help save her life. The number is +592-675-4317.

Pleading with the public to help her save her child, she said, “I’m asking you, fellow Guyanese out there, if your heart is touched with this story, a mother don’t ever give up on her child. I am in need of anyone who can assist me to raise funds because I have to take her back Thursday. As soon as the doctor returns, he’s out on a vacation, Thursday, Friday, or Saturday. I’m even praying to God to keep her.”

---

• Fighting for life, Guyana to help, liver failure, Tonya Toshanna Paul

---