EXCLUSIVE
A heartbroken Australian actor is mourning the death of his 10-year-old son who lost his battle with a rare type of brain tumor.
Eka Darville, best known for his starring roles in Power Rangers RPM and Marvel’s Jessica Jones and The Defenders, put his career on hold earlier this year after his son Mana was diagnosed with aggressive glioneuronal brain cancer.
After being told doctors in Australia could do little more, Darville and his wife Lila moved their young family to America, where Mana underwent high-risk, marathon surgery in April to remove as much of the primary tumor as possible.
Updates on Mana’s condition and recovery remained confidential until Darville recently revealed that his son was still fighting but the tumor was growing back “faster than ever” and urged fans to keep his son in their prayers.
Darville’s mother Malaika has now revealed in a heartbreaking video that her grandson Mana died in the USA over the weekend.
Eka Darville’s son Mana (pictured) has lost his courageous fight for life
“I still wanted to come together in this prayer because he will always be with us and is still with us,” she said in a video shared on the Let’s Go Mana page.
“You can imagine the extent of sadness and grief from Eka, Lila and Lila’s parents, his grandparents, me and his little brothers.”
“But at the same time there is a lot of joy.” There is a lot of peace. There is great silence in the house after such a long battle spanning 463 days since the whole ordeal began. And now he is free. Now he’s dancing in the light.’
“We all see it, we feel it, and I know that many of you, like me, have loved Mana forever.”
She described her grandson as being like no other child.
“Mana has managed to touch more hearts than most in a lifetime,” Malaika added.
“And he will continue to touch hearts with his story, courage, strength and wisdom that reach into the highest frequencies of the ascended masters, the angelic realms, the angels and the light, supporting man in pouring our love into his soul.”
She believes that Mana will always take care of his little brothers Zion and Axé.
“Axé was so excited this morning and we went outside and it was raining gently, it was really warm rain, we went outside and then there was this beautiful big rainbow right in the sky,” Malaika remembers.
“And Zion said it was Mana’s rainbow, Mana’s rainbow!”
“And we stood there in the rain and the two boys sang in the rain and I knew that Mana would always watch over these two boys and bring them joy in their hearts over and over again.”
Actor Eka Darville (left) recently urged everyone to keep his son Mana (right) in their prayers
The sad news sparked an outpouring of tributes from those who followed Mana’s journey.
Eka Darville and wife Lila were told by Australian doctors in January that there was little more they could do, so the couple sought treatment in the United States
Former Home and Away star and fellow Byron Bay native Isabel Lucas was among the many high-profile stars who expressed their condolences.
“I mourn with you and honor his life.” “I love you so much,” she wrote.
LA-based Australian actress Teresa Palmer added: “Sending you endless love, friends.”
Darville had recently revealed that Mana was still fighting despite the recent devastating setback.
He vowed to seek the best medical care possible and planned to access additional treatments in Europe and Japan.
“Three grueling surgeries, two continents, countless therapies and Mana’s undeniable will… 8 months later he is still with us. “I’m still fighting,” Darville wrote in an online fundraiser on Oct. 18.
“We’ve been on an absolute odyssey over the last six months, with ups and downs that have stretched our ability to be ‘human’ beyond any limits we thought we had.”
“We witnessed true miracles when Mana lost the ability to walk, did ninja rolls off the edge of the bed, climbed rocks, swam, and not only got out of the wheelchair but also walked unaided!”
“The great news is that after months of stability and miraculous progress in his physical rehabilitation, the tumor has fought its way back and is growing faster than ever before.”
“In the face of this latest challenge, we remain steadfast in our commitment to his full recovery and will accept nothing less.”
Mana (pictured at the start of his fight for life) died after the tumor returned and began to grow again
Unable to walk, Mana ninja-rolled off the edge of the bed before his tumor began to grow again
The family’s life was turned upside down in July 2022 when Mana collapsed on the beach and suffered a seizure that left the right side of her body paralyzed.
At the time, he was misdiagnosed with focal cortical dysplasia, a brain abnormality that was said to have existed since birth.
Over the next five months, Mana continued to suffer daily uncontrolled seizures and was eventually hospitalized again in January, where an MRI discovered two large tumors growing on the surface of his brain.
He underwent a marathon 14-hour operation in Australia, but only 60 percent of a tumor could be removed before Darville turned overseas to find a cure for Mana.
Originally from Byron Bay in northern New South Wales, Darville is best known for his roles as Malcolm Ducasse in Marvel’s Jessica Jones and The Defenders and as Red Ranger Scott Truman in Power Rangers RPM and its sequel Samurai.
He has also appeared in Spartacus, Terra Nova, The Vampire Diaries, The Originals, Empire, Her Smell and Tell Me a Story.
His latest role in “Planet of the Apes: The Kingdom” is scheduled to hit theaters in 2024.
Eka Darville burst onto the scene as Red Ranger Scott Truman in Power Rangers RPM in 2009
He also starred in Marvel’s Jessica Jones (pictured with David Tennant and Krysten Ritter)