Lynn cancer survivor celebrates life with family, friends

LYNN – Nine years ago, the thought of throwing a quinceanera was the farthest thing from the minds of Vanessa Tobon’s family and friends, but with the Breed Middle School student’s cancer in remission, Saturday turned out to be the happiest 15th birthday party any of them could ask for.Diagnosed with a brain tumor at six, Tobon’s future looked grim as she endured painful treatments and lengthy stays at Children’s Hospital and the Jimmy Fund clinic. As one family friend put it, “We had her for dead at six years old.””I remember that she had to go through chemotherapy and stayed every night at the Jimmy Fund Clinic with a special tutor,” said her sister, Veronica. “It was hard for me to understand at first because I was only eight years old, but as the years went on it got tougher for me to see her sick like that.”With support from family and the Children’s Hospital staff, Tobon was able to stay strong and fight the illness and is now looking at entering high school next year as a healthy teenager.A Mexican tradition similar to a sweet 16 celebration, families take an entire year to plan the quinceanera, as they celebrate their daughter “coming of age” at 15. Tobon actually turned 15 on April 22, but her family chose to hold the celebration in May, when the weather would be nicer.Tobon’s day-long celebration featured a large brunch at a family friend’s house, a Mass at the Immaculate Conception Church in Salem and a reception at the Franco American Post in Lynn.The brunch even featured a performance by the Lynn English High School JROTC Drill Team, set up by her sister, Veronica, who is a senior at the school.Tobon is not sure where she will attend high school next year, as she must take some special programs due to the time she missed battling her cancer, but her sister says that no matter where Vanessa ends up in school and in life, she will always be an inspiration to those who came to know her in her first 15 years.”A lot of people say they have heroes and those heroes are usually older than them, but Vanessa is the person that I look up to,” said Veronica Tobon. “She is stronger than I ever would be if I was in that situation myself.”