Dozens of family members, friends, and loved ones drove celebrated the end of 10-year-old Addison Rivera’s two-year battle with cancer Saturday with a car parade in Valencia.
On Saturday afternoon, dozens of cars decorated with signs and paint drove through the Valencia United Methodist Church’s parking lot to celebrate the end of an over two-year fight Addison has had against acute lymphatic leukemia.
“We had a parade for my end of cancer treatments,” the 10-year-old cancer survivor said. “I’ve had a lot of cancer treatments, so we wanted to celebrate that in a safe way.”
Those treatments included multiple surgeries and transfusions, along with over 900 doses of various chemotherapy drugs. But they paid off in the end, as Addison is now cancer-free.
“It feels good,” she said. “There’s no physical difference, but in my head it feels super happy knowing that I don’t have to take a pill tonight.”
Addison’s grandmother organized participants beforehand at Granary Square. Photo by Michael Brown/KHTS News.
Despite this monumental victory, Addison still wanted to keep herself and others safe during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. She and her family asked that people remain in their cars and wear facial coverings as they drove through the parade.
“It felt really nice. It felt good to see them from a distance away,” Addison said. “When you’re out of this parking lot, I can’t control you, but when you’re here I ask that you wear a mask.”
Addisona had not seen many of the people who drove by for quite some time, as both the ongoing pandemic and the distance some of her relatives live away from her prevented them from seeing each other in recent months.
“It feels great to know that, even if they’re not here with me like my family, that they still think about me and they still love me,” Addison said. “Even though I can’t see them and they live far away, they came just for me today and went through hours of traffic just to see me today.”
Photo by Michael Brown/KHTS News.
The Rivera family has chronicled Addison’s fight with cancer since it began in October of 2018 through the “Addison’s Allies – Unicorn Warrior” Facebook page, which can be found here.
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