In December 2022, Delilah Loya took to the field at SoFi Stadium as an honorary cheerleader for the Los Angeles Rams.
The 8-year-old Bakersfield girl had been battling stage IV neuroblastoma since 2019 with a grueling regimen of chemotherapy, immunotherapy and radiation. But that day, she lived a dream.
Her eyes sparkled as she shook yellow pom-poms and ran across the grass in a custom uniform given to her by the cheerleading squad.
“This is the happiest day of my life,” she said in a video posted on Instagram. “I will beat cancer because I am really strong.”
Delilah fought hard. She died Sunday, two months before her 10th birthday, her mother Samantha Loya Serrata said. on social networks.
“We will continue to travel and spread your love and light all over the world,” Loya Serrata wrote in an Instagram post. “We will live for you because you were taken from us way too soon.”
Delilah was diagnosed at age 4 with neuroblastomaa cancer that usually begins in developing nerve cells and typically affects children under age 5. His family regularly traveled from their home in Bakersfield to Children’s Hospital Los Angeles for treatment.
Delilah’s family documented her story on social media, where it caught the attention of an influencer Isaiah GarzaIn addition to Delilah’s day with the Rams cheerleaders, Garza also helped set up a meeting with Tom Higgenson, lead singer of the Plain White T’s. In January, Higgenson entered Delilah’s hospital room playing his favorite song: “Hey There Delilah,” the melody that gave him his name.
The family gave the same name to a non-profit organization They started in March to help ease costs for families whose children are undergoing cancer treatment.
“You were too good for this world,” her mother wrote on Instagram. “Rest in peace my beautiful daughter.”
