Nelina

Born on Oct. 31, 2009, Nelina, nicknamed Pumpkin, embraced her Hallowe’en birthright, directing her mother’s costumes choices as soon as she started talking and enjoying the holiday to its fullest each year.

In her first four years of life, Nelina Lyon Ann grew into an active girl who loved the outdoors, swimming, jumping in puddles, running through the sprinkler on hot summer days and rock climbing with her dad.

She was the kind of person who tried everything, and she also knew what she liked best: pizza and spaghetti were her favourite foods, and pink and purple her favourite colours. She enjoyed collecting, prizing stuffies and rocks in that order, and developed a budding photographer’s eye.

Nelina loved secret surprises, especially gummy bears in her baked goodies. At Christmas, she would run to the tree, declaring with glee "I've been good" as she surveyed the wrapped gifts with her name on them.

And she had a great sense of humor, roaring with laugher at what she considered the greatest joke ever: "Knock knock, who's there? Banana. Banana who? Knock, knock, who's there? Banana. Banana who? Knock Knock, who's there? Orange. Orange who? Orange you glad I didn't say banana again?”

When she hit school age, Nelina had great fun shopping for a lunch bag and knapsack, and would grin widely when she found the perfect ones. She made many friends and had many adventures on the playground in her two years of kindergarten.

In 2014, Nelina was staying with her grandmother, who noticed she suddenly wasn’t able to walk properly, and was slurring her speech. She was taken to SickKids in Toronto, where she was diagnosed with a rare brain tumour: Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma (DIPG). Nelina began 30 sessions of radiation as a palliative care option, which allowed her to spend eight months in senior kindergarten with her buddies. Before her symptoms began to reappear, Nelina and her family were also able to create a many precious memories, including weekend adventures and a Make-A-Wish Disney trip. A second round of radiation in April 2015 would improve Nelina’s condition somewhat, and the discovery of chest tumors in July of that year precipitated chemotherapy treatment that gave the family five more months together.

Nelina passed away peacefully on Jan. 19 2016 with her loving parents by her side.