The sad story of Dana Scatton shook the nation. In December 2017, this young lady was diagnosed with a DIPG, an extremely rare brain cancer.
However, Dana was 29 weeks pregnant when the doctors revealed the terrible news. They also added that she had only 3 months to live.
Nevertheless, the doctors also emphasized that she should not worry about the baby’s safety since the radiation was not harmful to the baby itself. As a result, Dana gave birth to Aries Marie.
Unfortunately, in sorrow and sadness, Dana’s family announced some very tragic news.
Dana knew that she had to fight with the illness really hard. She had strong faith in God and she was a funny and positive person.
She was just 17 when the doctors informed her about the terrible and deadly disease.
The symptoms of the disease were difficulties while speaking, swallowing and even walking.
For The Advertiser, she said:
“I was really overtired. But things kept getting worse. I was forgetting to swallow, and my speech got weird. Then my legs started not responding to things—when I would walk, my legs would drag. That’s when I really got concerned.”
She was not left alone. The family was there to support her and encourage her.
Her story got the nation’s attention. Everyone was following her tragic story and prayed for her well-being.
Dana’s fate was so tragic. While pregnant, she had to go through difficult procedures in order to save her and her baby’s life. She indeed gave birth to a healthy and cute little baby.
Dana had several rounds of radiation but the symptoms were getting worse.
Instead of enjoying with the baby, she had to fight the memory loss, problems with her vision, pain, headache and chemotherapy.
“She was crying and once they put her on Dana’s chest, she stopped,” Scatton’s brother, Josiah Gundry said. “
The baby is doing really well … I told my boss about the birth, and he said, ‘One miracle down … one to go.’ ”
“When Dana was going in for the C-section, we were all anxious and stressing,” he said.
“And she was just calm. She told us, ‘Listen, it’s gonna be fine.’ I said to her, ‘I don’t know how you’re doing this.’
And she said to me, ‘I just try to trust in God.’”
Dana did not survive the battle. She passed away a week ago. Her family posted on Facebook the following:
“This morning shortly before 4 a.m., Dana left us to be with the lord”
They also added:
“She inspired us all to be better than who we are and to keep God in our focus at every moment. She faced the greatest fear of all, death, and smiled back with a grin only God can instill. She fought harder than the toughest warriors known to man and did it with grace and valor.”
Her funeral was on Friday and it was streamed on the Internet.
”We may never have the rights to say to truly honor the amazing, smart, loving, caring, passionate, incredibly beautiful and free spirited mother, daughter, niece, cousin, friend and independent woman Dana was every day.”
After the funeral, the family announced:
“Thank you for the support you’ve given Dana over the last 16 months. Thank you for never giving up on her and her fight. Thank you to everyone who joined us tonight in person and online to celebrate Dana. We feel very blessed that Dana was loved and supported by so many, from all over the world”.
Shortly before her death, Dana said:
“It was such a wake-up call. Getting death thrown in your face … it’s so real. It really shows you what’s true. This world doesn’t matter, it’s temporary, you know? When I found out, I immediately let the world go. It’s like, that doesn’t matter anymore. We have to look at the eternal life. We all think we have so much time … honestly, I feel thankful that I have this time to wake up and realize what’s right. And I want everybody to see that. Even though others didn’t get the news that I did, I want them to wake up. I feel blessed that I have this time to make things right–others don’t get that time–death happens in the blink of an eye.”
May God give you peace and rest among the Angels. You suffered a lot in this world so may God reward you in the next one.
Our prayers and support go to the Dana’s family. Such a tragic loss!!