A little girl diagnosed with an aggressive and untreatable form of brain cancer who was pictured in a gut-wrenching photo that went viral last week showing her grieving grandfather saying goodbye has died, her family said.
In a Facebook post Monday night on the Braylynn’s Battalion Facebook page, the Florida family sadly announced that five-year-old Braylynn Lawhon had ‘earned her sparkly pink angel wings’.
‘And though she be but little, she is fierce,’ the post read.
‘Our sweet Braylynn, our warrior princess, earned her sparkly pink angel wings this evening. Her nickname was Princess Bel and she could light up any room’.
Braylynn Lawhon, five, died after battling an aggressive and untreatable form of brain cancer. Lawhon is pictured above with her mother, Ally Parker, in a Facebook photo Parker shared earlier this month
The family announced in a Facebook post on the Braylynn’s Battalion page that she died Monday night
The little girl’s story went viral after Parker posted a photo showing her father, Sean Peterson (right) crying as he visited Lawhon (left) in a hospice facility. Peterson, 49, suffers from ALS and bone marrow cancer
Lawhon was diagnosed with Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma – the most deadly form of brain cancer – on December 6
The family has yet to announce funeral arrangements.
Lawhon’s story quickly spread across social media last week and tugged on the heartstrings of many people after her mother, Ally Parker, shared a Facebook photo of her terminally-ill father saying goodbye to her young daughter.
Parker is now trying to awareness in hopes doctors can soon find a cure for the devastating disease
Sean Peterson, 49, was diagnosed with ALS in 2016 and found out he had bone marrow cancer shortly after.
On December 6, Lawhon was diagnosed with Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma, a deadly form of brain cancer that has no cure or survival rate.
On Sunday, Peterson went to visit his granddaughter in a Florida hospice and was overcome grief. The heart-breaking moment was captured on camera and showed Peterson crying as he said goodbye to the child.
‘We all thought that they would outlive the rest of us…and we certainly never thought that my precious little Braylynn would be the first to go,’ Parker, who shared the photo, wrote in her Facebook post.
‘Last year was hard for us, but I can’t even begin to explain how difficult this year will be and has already been.
‘In a few days I will have to bury this beautiful little girl. Months, maybe even weeks, later, I will have to bury my father.’
We all thought that they would outlive the rest of us…and we certainly never thought that my precious little Braylynn would be the first to go,’ Parker wrote on Facebook. Pictured is an older photo of Lawhon (right) with Peterson (left)
Parker said in a Facebook post last week that her father is terminally ill and not expected to live much longer. Pictured on the left is Lawhon and on the right is her grandfather, Sean Peterson
The family will use donations raised through GoFundMe to help with funeral expenses for Lawhon as well as research for the disease
‘Both of my heroes, gone, within the same year,’ she continues. ‘How could this happen to us? What did any of us do to deserve THIS?
‘Why do they have to leave us? What are we supposed to do? I refuse to believe that there is a reason for this. This world is a terrible place.’
The Pensacola family had documented Lawhon’s battle with cancer on a GoFundMe page that was initially set up to help fund experimental treatment in Mexico. The money will now go towards the little girl’s funeral expenses and research.
The family is seeking $300,000 in donations and have so far raised more than $75,000
The family has yet to announce funeral arrangements for Lawhon
‘We lost our beloved Braylynn on Monday to this treacherous disease. The donations will go to planning her funeral and to other families fighting this disease and some of it will be going to research to help find a cure,’ the family posted. ‘We do not wish this pain upon anyone. We may not be able to bring her back, but she may be able to help other babies from dying in the future. Thank you everyone for your thoughts and prayers.’
The family is hoping to raise $300,000. So far, they have received more than $75,000 in donations.