Marayah’s Story
As a child, Marayah was full of energy and enthusiasm and continued those vivacious characteristics into her teenage years. Marayah definitely understood that life was meant to be lived, enjoyed and cherished. Born on September 4, 2005, she grew up being the goofy life of the party, always making family and friends laugh and reminding us all to enjoy even the simplest of occasions. Marayah also dedicated herself to being the best at everything she did – whether that was a student in the classroom or a soccer star on the field.
At 14 years of age, toward the end of her freshman year soccer season, Marayah had a moment that would forever change her life. She started to feel pain and discovered a bump near her left thigh. Doctors believed it to be a cyst in her hip, when in fact it was a cancerous tumor. Marayah was diagnosed with stage 4, Alveolar Rhabdomyosarcoma, a rare childhood cancer. Wanting the very best care we could find for Marayah, we pulled up roots in California and sought medical treatment at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, TN. Doctors told Marayah that she would be facing an intense cancer treatment plan that would include 54 weeks of chemotherapy and at least 30 bouts of radiation.
What kept us going was Marayah – her determination, her spirit and her never give-up attitude. Marayah never blamed anyone or had self-pity. That wasn’t her. Marayah fought to ensure any day that she was not hospitalized or bedridden, was a day to be lived to its fullest.
Toward the end of the year, we had a moment of celebration – Marayah’s scans had come back clear, and we thought she had beaten the cancer and began to make plans to head back home to California. Little did we know the next battle that lie ahead. This is when she began to feel tremors in her lips. At first, we thought she might have been training too hard, but the tremors continued so her doctors decided to do scans once again. This turned into the hardest day anyone could imagine. Multiple cancerous tumors returned, but now they had metastasized to her brain.
Marayah needed to have surgery on her brain to remove the most aggressive tumor, but the others were inoperable. The news was devastating. Marayah was told she was not promised a day …. the cancer could overtake her brain and she could pass any day.
In true Marayah form, within days after her brain surgery, she was back on her feet. We talked about her future and her message was clear. Marayah wanted to take advantage of whatever time she had left and live to the fullest. Marayah never stopped enjoying every minute she had — and every minute we had with her. Marayah was able to return home to California to celebrate her Quinceanera with friends and family, but six weeks later, she succumbed to her cancer on October 23, 2021, with her mother and father by her side at St. Jude Hospital in Memphis, TN.
In those short six months before her passing, Marayah was very realistic about her fate and shared so much with us about life without her. Marayah was clear and specific about her wishes and had an extremely selfless and mature outlook for a 16-year-old. Marayah had goals she knew she would not be able to fulfill and asked that we do it for her, and so it is with a great deal of love and Marayah’s compassion for others, that we are proud to establish the Marayah Cares Foundation in her honor.
Through fundraising, we intend to support causes that were important to Marayah, including:
- Lending financial assistance to families dealing with childhood cancer;
- Providing scholarships to student-athletes from diverse backgrounds in recognition of Marayah’s academic achievements and her love for sports;
- Assist animal rescue organization in any way we can in recognition of her love and compassion for animals.
We hope by establishing this Foundation, Marayah’s memory will carry on through the children, families and animals we assist and achieve the things Marayah lived for — Love, Joy and Success.
