When Constanza Isabel Guerra Parada — known to her friends as Connie — first noticed bruising on her arms and legs last month, she brushed away any real concern. Her part-time cleaning job at the Mercure Sydney involves “very rough” work and she assumed she had simply been banging into things while working. But when the 31-year-old Chilean national from Santiago noticed her lower gums were inflamed, she booked a dentist appointment.
Know the news with the 7NEWS app: Download today She had not been for a checkup since moving to Australia in March 2023 to study English and marketing in Sydney — where she met fellow Chilean, 24-year-old Isidora Becerra Quezada. The pair soon became “inseparable” but were unaware just how much Guerra Parada would come to rely on Becerra Quezada for support after the diagnosis that would soon change her life. Guerra Parada’s “inflammation never stopped,” Becerra Quezada told 7NEWS.
com.au. “One Sunday when she woke up, her gums were completely swollen and her palate was in great pain when eating.
She made an appointment with the dentist for the next day.” The dentist sent her to a GP, who sent her to Royal Prince Alfred Hospital emergency room on August 1. “When we arrived at the hospital, we only thought that it was a case of stress,” Becerra Quezada said.
“The next afternoon, they gave her the diagnosis — she had leukaemia.” Guerra Parada began chemotherapy two days later for acute myeloid leukaemia, with her med.