Little girl continues to inspire years after succumbing to cancer
About a dozen or so City of Miami police officers embarked on a 180-mile bike ride from Miami to Key West this week to raise money for pediatric cancer drug research.
The ride is in honor of Bella Rodriguez-Torres, a 10-year-old girl who lost a six-year battle with an aggressive form of childhood cancer three years ago, but who inspired many, including Miami Heat basketball players, with her love of life and enthusiasm to live it as fully as possible while she was here.
The police officers are riding with Bella’s dad, Raymond Rodriguez-Torres, who with his wife Shannah, started the Live Like Bella Childhood Cancer Foundation following the death of Bella, their oldest daughter.
Bella was diagnosed with alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma in July 2007. The then-four-year-old was paralyzed overnight. Doctors found a large tumor on her spine and seven more throughout her body.
Doctors predicted her life expectancy was a matter of months and that she’d never walk again. Bella was determined to prove them wrong, which she did every day until the end. Not only did Bella live years past the original diagnosis, she thrived.
“She regained the ability to walk, run and jump,” Raymond said.
She went into remission, but the cancer came back six times -- and each time she was determined to not let the disease stop her from getting everything she could out of life.
In 2012, Bella was receiving a radical treatment at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas. Her mother put a post on Facebook encouraging people to “Live Like Bella.”
“She challenged ‘Bella’s Believers’ to go out and enjoy life,” according to LiveLikeBella.org. “Since Bella could not leave the hospital, she encouraged others to appreciate each moment and live as Bella would.”
The phrase went viral. Heat stars Dwayne Wade and LeBron James wrote “Live Like Bella” on their shoes during the 2013 Eastern Conference Finals in Bella’s memory after she passed on May 28 of that year.
It wasn’t just the Heat that honored Bella. She wanted to be a police officer when she grew up, so the City of Miami Police Department made her an honorary officer and an honorary chief. More than 200 police officers and other first responders attended her funeral mass. Miami-Dade County named a section of SW 107 Ave "Live Like Bella Way" and a public park "Live Like Bella Park" in Leisure city.
Bella’s dad and the Miami PD officers are raising much needed money for pediatric drug research. Childhood cancer is the leading cause of death by disease for kids under 15, but in the past 20 years the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has only approved two new drugs to combat the disease, according to the Childhood Cancer Foundation. Half of all chemotherapies used to treat pediatric cancer are more than 25 years old.
Raymond said Live Like Bella Childhood Cancer Foundation is working with a North Carolina bio-tech company -- BioMarck Pharmaceuticals -- that is developing a new drug designed to treat alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma. He’s hoping to sign children up in so-called “compassionate use” programs. This would give children suffering from the disease emergency access to the drug while its in its trial stages.
To learn more about Rodriguez-Torres’ organization or to make a donation, go to livelikebella.org, or to Live Like Bella on Facebook.
This story was originally published July 13, 2016 at 4:12 PM with the headline "Little girl continues to inspire years after succumbing to cancer."