Layla Grace Marsh

Layla Grace Marsh (November 26, 2007 - March 9, 2010), was a young Texas girl who was diagnosed with Stage IV High-Risk Neuroblastoma Cancer in 2009. Her parents documented her 10 month battle on her Twitter page. Layla’s story was first told through blogging and tweets to keep family and friends updated on her condition. With nearly 50,000 followers on Twitter and over
16,000 fans on Facebook, Layla’s story picked up coverage by local, national, and international news.

Layla's Life
Layla Grace was born to Ryan and Shanna Marsh on November 26th, 2007. She had a normal infancy until age 17 months, when she was diagnosed with a highly agressive type of childhood cancer. Layla was sent to Texas Childrens Hospital for tests that would confirm her diagnosis. The tumor proved to be Neuroblastoma - a rare, very agressive, childhood cancer with a survival rate of less than 30%.
Layla's initial treatments included 7 rounds of Chemotherapy, an additional eleven (11) surgeries, blood/platelet transfusions, radiation & numerous, lengthly hospital stays due to infection or treatments. Layla went through a bone marrow transplant which took place in November of 2009. She was admitted on November 19th where Texas Children's became her new home for the next six weeks in hopes of saving her life- Layla underwent stem cell transplant.
On Friday, January 22nd, 2010, The Marsh's had learned that Layla relapsed. Relapsed neuroblastoma gave Layla a grim prognosis of only 10%. The cancer was back and it was winning. Layla was given 2 months.

Death
Layla Grace was down to 18 pounds and couldn't move in her own bed. She was allergic to pain medications and managing her pain became harder. Ryan and Shanna Marsh lay next to their baby as she took her final breaths. Layla Grace Marsh died on March 9th, 2010.
Funeral Services were held on March 13th, 2010 at Lifebridge Church of Cypress, Texas. Hundreds of people all around the world, came to say goodbye to Layla Grace. Over 1,000 pink and purple balloons were released to Layla. Survivors include her parents and 2 older sisters, Jenna and Claire. The Marsh Family created The Layla Grace Childrens Cancer Research Foundation in hopes of finding a cure.

Impact
* October 24, 2009 - coverage of Fall Festival - KIAH 39 Houston
* February 27, 2010 - - Huffington Post
* March 3, 2010 - coverage of Ej’s Pizzeria give back night - KPRC Local 2 Houston
* March 7, 2010 - video coverage of Rock For Layla -March 7, 2010 - KIAH 39 Houston
* March 9, 2010 - - U.S.S Post Article

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