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Julie Kynaston with her husband Ryan and her children Kira, Ilan and Judah.
- Cape Town mom blogger Julie Kynaston received more than R1.1 million in donations within 15 days through her BackaBuddy campaign, launched to cover treatment for her stage 4 triple-negative breast cancer.
- Kynaston, widely recognised for her supportive adoption-focused platform “HeartMamaBlog”, has inspired overwhelming generosity from friends, followers and strangers after sharing her diagnosis.
- Despite setbacks with her medical aid, Kynaston remains hopeful as community support becomes a lifeline, allowing her to begin treatment and focus on her family’s well-being.
What began as a simple routine cancer check-up for Cape Town mom blogger Julie Kynaston has sparked an outpouring of generosity, with strangers donating more than R1.1 million in just 15 days to her fight against her diagnosis.
The funds, raised through BackaBuddy to help cover the costly treatment plans not covered by her medical aid, have become a lifeline for Kynaston and her family as they navigate her sudden diagnosis of stage 4 triple-negative breast cancer.
Kynaston – who juggles content creation on her platforms (@heartmamablog), a part-time role as communications manager at the Harry Crossley Children’s Nursing Development Unit at Red Cross Children’s War Memorial Hospital, and as mom’s taxi to her three kids – was devastated when her life took an unexpected turn.
Her online platforms have long been a space where adoptive families like hers can see themselves represented. HeartMamaBlog, where she shares her family’s life, has become a community that raises awareness about adoption, neurodiversity and trauma, and increases representation for families like hers.
This connection with her audience also explains the overwhelming response when she eventually shared her diagnosis.
Kynaston said:
This diagnosis has come as a complete shock. I had no symptoms and wasn’t expecting this at all.
After a routine mammogram on Thursday, 16 October, followed by an ultrasound that revealed something concerning in her right breast, she went for a biopsy the following Monday. The next day, while leaving an event, she received the call that changed everything.
“The biopsy showed an invasive grade 3 triple-negative carcinoma (TNBC). TNBC accounts for about 10% to 15% of all breast cancers and is unfortunately very difficult to treat,” Kynaston said.
The days that followed were filled with blood tests and MRIs, which led to a lung biopsy via a thoracotomy, a major procedure she hadn’t expected.
“Unfortunately, the results showed that my breast cancer is very fast-growing and had spread to my lungs, which gives me the stage 4 diagnosis,” she said.
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As someone who openly shares her life online, Kynaston needed time before breaking the news to her audience.
“I needed a minute to try to process everything myself first, but the response has been overwhelmingly supportive,” she said.
Another blow came when her oncologist, Dr Johann Raats at Cancer Care (at Life Vincent Pallotti Hospital in Cape Town), confirmed that her medical aid did not cover the treatment he recommended due to insufficient clinical evidence cited by the scheme.
She said:
Discovery told my oncologist that authorisation of Abraxane [chemotherapy] and Tecentriq [immunotherapy] had been declined because the trial does not demonstrate sufficient clinical evidence.
“However, the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority considered there to be sufficient evidence to justify registration of the treatment in South Africa. The clinical trial stated that a clinically meaningful benefit was observed for this treatment over chemotherapy alone and that the combination was safe and tolerable.”
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The family has appealed the decision and hopes that at least the equivalent cost of standard chemotherapy will be funded.
“Breast cancer is a prescribed minimum benefit condition, and medical schemes should be obliged to fund something towards a clinically appropriate, registered treatment,” she said.
Unable to work and needing help caring for her children, Kynaston has leaned heavily on her family and friends.
Ryan and Julie Kynaston.
“My husband, Ryan, has been the one holding my hand through this all, and my family and friends have truly rallied around me. My mom has just about dropped everything to be here for me,” she shared.
She began her first round of treatment this week and remains hopeful.
She said:
Although stage 4 cancer is considered untreatable and [treatment] not curative, we live in the age of miracles, and I’m choosing to hold on to that.
“The first miracle has been receiving funding to start treatment, but the real celebration will be to hear that I’m responding to the treatment.”
That “first miracle” arrived when friends created a BackaBuddy campaign that quickly took on a life of its own. The fundraiser has already reached 78% of its R1.5 million goal, surpassing R1.1 million in just 15 days.
“I don’t actually have the words to express how grateful we are as a family. With so much need around us, I feel really fortunate to be on the receiving end of this generosity,” she said.
“Donations have come in from fellow social media content creators and followers, parents from my kids’ schools, my and my husband’s water polo teams, friends from church, friends from school, friends of the family, friends of friends, and so many strangers… Thank you to my friends who created this campaign and every single person who has shared or donated.”
