The story is one of profound heartbreak.
Dr. Shridevi ‘Shri’ Singh, a dedicated oncologist, devoted her career to treating cancer patients. Tragically, the very disease she fought against claimed the life of her cherished teenage daughter, in just a matter of days.
When Dr. Singh lost her 15-year-old daughter just a week after her diagnosis, the single mother was overwhelmed with grief and felt life was unbearable without her.
In a poignant social media post, Dr. Singh expressed her devastation, writing, “There isn’t a world where we exist without each other. Our bond was incredibly strong and unbreakable. Everyone knew that Haley was my world and how deeply I cherished her.” Just weeks after her daughter’s death, Dr. Singh also passed away, leaving behind a legacy of love and dedication.
At 41, Dr. Singh had established a life in Long Island after moving from Suriname, South America, to New York with her parents as a child.
She pursued her dream of becoming an oncologist with relentless determination, a work ethic she passed on to her daughter, Haley, whom she often called her “center.”
Now both Haley and Shri have left behind a community in shock, while family members told the Daily Mail they were too grief-stricken to comment.
It was in early October that Haley was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), a rare and fast-growing blood cancer that mainly affects young children. In older children, however, it is often easy to miss because its early symptoms — fatigue, pale skin, easy bruising, or bone and joint pain — can be mistaken for ordinary tiredness or growing pains.
Haley Singh, 15, (pictured with her mom on her 15th birthday) was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia in October and died within a week
Her mother, Dr Shridevi ‘Shri’ Singh, was an oncologist who specialized in breast cancer surgery on Long Island
By the time Haley was diagnosed, it was too late.
The bleak irony that her mother, a breast cancer surgeon, had committed her career to helping those with cancer now seems impossibly sad.
After Haley was rushed into hospital for surgery, her mother was by her side speaking about her to everyone.
‘The OR [operating room] staff would hear about my little Haley baby all the time,’ Dr Singh later said on social media. ‘Even though she was 15, I talked about my baby like a proud momma of a toddler making its first steps!’
Tiffany Troso-Sandoval, a New York oncologist, said ALL grows very rapidly and a patient can go from being completely fine to gravely ill as cancer cells ‘completely take over,’ she told the Daily Mail. ‘It can manifest within hours or days.’
Haley’s family and friends remember the young girl for her ‘strength, kindness, and bright spirit.’
One tribute on the GoFundMe page said simply: ‘She faced every challenge with grace beyond her years and inspired an entire community with her bravery.’
Singh’s friend, Francesca Prudente, who met her at Nassau University Hospital, where they both studied, said she couldn’t imagine a world where the mother and daughter weren’t together.
‘When I found out about her daughter’s sudden passing, who she lived for and breathed for, I could not imagine a world where Shri was Shri without Haley.
‘We checked in on each other’s careers and children, and wished each other Happy Mother’s Day because we both knew that was the most important thing to each other, being a mom.
Tragically, only a mere 30 days later, her mom also died
‘There isn’t a world where we exist without each other,’ Singh said in a tribute post to her daughter
‘That was the driving force behind both of our accomplishments.’
Singh detailed her own grief in a heart-wrenching post the day after the high school sophomore’s death, writing on Instagram: ‘Mom and daughter, always. ‘My baby girl was an incredible soul, and I always knew that, and I am so glad that all of you did too. She was a sweet-spirited, joyful, kind, loving, thoughtful, affectionate, intelligent human who always made sure to compliment others [because] she loved bringing light into people’s lives. That’s her.
‘The strength I need after losing her suddenly and the ordeal I have been through this short time will be of the greatest one a human could need, a mom would need. I’m not sure, but I will try.’
Little did she know she would be with her daughter beyond the grave such a short period of time later.
Her family remember her for being a brilliant breast cancer surgeon, a profession she only began two years ago.
Shridevi had gone back to school to obtain her medical degree to pursue her dream of being a doctor, all while studying as a single mother.
She received a biology and biochemistry degree from Queen’s College in 2011 before attending the American University of the Caribbean (AUC) for her medical degree, her LinkedIn said.
Shridevi did her residency at Nassau University Hospital in New York, where she was chief resident, before doing her breast surgical oncology fellowship at Rutgers University in New Jersey. After that, she joined The Cancer Center at Good Samaritan University Hospital on Long Island.
The Singhs are one of a growing number of families affected by the rise in childhood leukemias.
Cases of ALL have been gradually rising worldwide in recent decades, particularly among older children and adolescents.
The cancer that claimed the life of Haley is growing in older children and young adults
Singh was remembered her for her determination, empathy, and bright spirit – the same qualities her family saw in her daughter
While better testing is partly to blame, it doesn’t tell the entire story. Environmental exposures – such as pesticides, industrial chemicals, or radiation – may play a role in triggering mutations in blood-forming cells.
Genetic factors can make some children more susceptible, with inherited or spontaneous mutations increasing their risk.
Lifestyle changes over recent decades, including shifts in diet, reduced physical activity, and delayed or altered early-life infections, may also influence immune system development in ways that affect leukemia risk.
With ALL, a patient might only notice minor symptoms, like feeling a little more tired, before suddenly getting diagnosed because the cancer cells’ geometric growth is ‘not linear’, and any acute disease is much more aggressive, according to Tiffany Troso-Sandoval.
It was exactly such a thunderbolt that struck Haley Singh – whose loss, it seems, was simply too much for her bereft mother to bear.
