Zoleka, Nelson Mandela’s Granddaughter Dying Of Cancer

Zoleka Mandela, the granddaughter of struggle stalwarts Winnie and Nelson Mandela, revealed that she has been diagnosed with bone metastasis.

“I have bone metastasis,” she wrote in a caption of a photo of herself in an x-ray robe. “I’ve just had my CT scan and awaiting my results; I don’t even have the words to articulate my thoughts and feelings, the words to describe how scared I am right now.”

“What do I tell my children? How do I tell them that this time around, I may not get to live my life as a survivor? How do I tell them everything will be okay when it’s not? I’m dying… I don’t want to die.”

According to Mayo Clinic, bone metastasis occurs when cancer cells spread from their original site to a bone. It could happen on any bone, but more commonly in the spine, pelvic and thigh.

The clinic added it may be the fight sign of cancer or may occur years after cancer treatment.

In her caption, Mandela said she recently consulted with her general practitioner after battling a painful back for more than a month. Sharing she could no longer tolerate the “excruciating” pain she was experiencing in her left rib.

“I went for an x-ray of my chest and rib a few days ago – I have a pathological fracture and swelling caused by cancer,” she wrote. “My medical oncologist had scheduled me for a CT scan and bone scan to determine whether I have cancer in the remaining parts of my body.”

The writer and activist shared her health battles on social media regularly. She was diagnosed with and beat breast cancer twice.