‘Inspiring’ Natasha remembered for tireless advocacy
Natasha Gould dreamed of being a singer, a cheerleader, a writer, of living on a farm.
But when she learned she had a rare childhood cancer known as Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Gliomas or DIPG, which has a low survival rate and typically gives children nine to 18 months to live after diagnosis, her focus turned to advocacy.
In the final months of her life, she worked tirelessly to raise awareness of her disease and its relative lack of funding and research.
She also refused to let her disease get in the way of competing with her cheerleading team and performing alongside a recording artist.
“Natasha found some purpose in her life through all of this,” said her father Bill Gould.
“As soon as the diagnosis happened that weekend, she started blogging. Her blogs and YouTube channel caught the attention of Truth 365, whose mandate is to increase awareness around childhood cancer, which is relatively underfunded.”
After a year-long battle with DIPG, the 12-year-old passed away Thursday night ahead of a candlelight vigil in front of the family’s southwest home.
Instead of cancelling the event, her family invited loved ones to come and bid Natasha farewell.
“We had a stream of people including her friends from school, from her cheerleading team. They all came and sat next to her and said their goodbyes and held her hand,” Bill said.
In an interview earlier this year, Natasha recalled the day her cheerleader tryout was cut short when she learned she had an aggressive tumour at the base of her brain, which eventually immobilized her left side and affected her eyesight.
“I was going to audition but then my world kind of blew up in my face,” she said.
Despite missing cheerleading tryouts, Natasha was made an honorary member of the Stars cheer team at the Stampede City Showdown cheerleading competition at Mount Royal University in March.
Jodi Poirier, owner of the Calgary Stars Gymnastics and Cheerleading Centre, with whom Natasha competed earlier this year, said Natasha left a lasting impact on everyone who knew her.
“She showed us life may not give you the best circumstances, but she certainly lived it to its fullest and made the best of it. She was inspiring,” Poirier said.
Shortly after, Natasha and her cheerleading club were invited to perform with singer OMI — known for his popular song Cheerleader — at the Grey Eagle Casino in May.
Through it all, she worked hard spreading the word about DIPG and the lack of resources in attacking the rare disease. She was invited to speak in Washington, D.C., on TV and at a junior high school in Calgary, her father said.
She also kept the public up to date through her blog posts at pray for natasha. ca. During the last leg of her cancer journey, she got to fulfil many items on her bucket list, including going on a trip to Mexico with family friends and visiting Disneyland with her family.
Her brain will be donated to help find a cure for her disease, her father said. A celebration of life will be planned at a later date.
She leaves behind her parents Bill and Saskia, her older brother Liam, as well as a pet dog and cat.
Online fundraisers have raised about $80,000 to help the family.