The Mading Foundation/via FacebookIsabella Mading, who wanted to be a nurse when she grew up, passed away after bravely battling brain cancer. She was just 10 years old.
A 10-year-old girl who bravely battled brain cancer became the third sibling in her Florida family to die from the same genetic condition.
Isabella Mading, who wanted to be a nurse when she grew up, lost her cancer battle earlier this month.
“From the moment she woke up to the moment she want to bed, she lived life to the fullest,” mom Erin Mading told the Naples Daily News.
Isabella’s older brother Cody passed away at 17 in 2010, and her older sister Averi died at the same age in 2013. As with Isabella, both died of brain cancer.
All three kids were diagnosed with Lynch syndrome, which increases the risk of many different types of cancers.
Those with Lynch syndrome, also called hereditary nonpolyposis colon cancer, have a higher risk of getting colorectal cancer, uterine cancer, stomach cancer, brain cancer, and many others.
Up to 1 million people are projected to have Lynch syndrome in the U.S., with only five percent diagnosed, according to Lynchcancers.com.
Erin Mading said she and her husband Benjamin eventually found out they both carried gene mutations.
The Madings have two other daughters — Kylie, 20, and 15-year-old Olivia.
The Mading Foundation/via FacebookIsabella Mading spent a lot of time in the hospital during her 10 years.
“To give our kids both of our mutations? Three out of five got both mutations,” Erin Mading told Fox 6.
The Madings moved to Pittsburgh with the hope of getting better treatment for Isabella. She passed away at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh on Feb. 6, according to the Naples Daily News. She had just turned 10 last month.
The family is unsure whether they will move permanently back to Bonita Springs, Fla., where the service for Isabella was held.
Isabella “had a wisdom beyond her years” after growing up in a hospital with her brother and sister, her mom told the Naples Daily News.
“She knew what her fate was,” Erin Mading told News Channel 3.
The family chronicled Isabella’s battle with an online blog.
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