Tumor Claims Girl After 2 1/2-Year Life Extension : Medicine: Child, 5, finally succumbs to brain disease after making a remarkable comeback that doubled her life span.

Nicole Anguiano, the Whittier child who confounded and delighted doctors by thriving for nearly 2 1/2 years despite a massive brain tumor, died recently of complications related to the tumor. She was 5.

Nicole received widespread attention after she bounced back in February, 1989, from what doctors had supposed would be a fatal coma caused by an inoperable brain tumor. Family members were about to turn off life-support systems when Nicole mysteriously woke up and addressed them by name. Nicole improved rapidly, looking for all the world like a normal preschooler.

Her tumor continued to grow for a while, then stopped.

“Doctors told us she could live a full life or it could start growing again shortly,” said AnnaMaria Anguiano, Nicole’s grandmother. “She was doing so well, we were thinking with our hearts that she was going to have her full life.”

Nicole was one of fewer than 2,000 American children every year who develop tumors in their nervous systems. Children with her ailment are typically expected to live no longer than six months to a year, said doctors at Childrens Hospital of Los Angeles.

With her shiny brown hair and sparkling, mischievous eyes, Nicole became something of a celebrity in Whittier, recognized all over town. The close-knit but financially struggling family received many offers of help from local residents and merchants.

At her fifth birthday party in August, about 60 family members and friends showered Nicole with presents. She smashed a pinata, and--at her request--received Barbie everything: dolls, clothes, a Barbie car, a Barbie pool, a Barbie kitchen.

Her family noticed that she was beginning to tire more easily, however. Two weeks after the party, she began limping; then her speech started becoming slurred. Tests showed that the tumor had resumed growing. Doctors warned the family to expect the worst.

Nicole started kindergarten last fall despite her declining health. When her legs would not carry her anymore, she attended school in a wheelchair.

When she lost the ability to talk, she invented her own sign language and taught it to family members. Three fingers pointing down meant “Mama.” The peace sign was “Grandma.” Nicole stuck up her middle finger to call for Grandpa.

“That was the one we all laughed about,” her grandmother said. “She still had her humor even though she was sick.”

Pressing a finger against her thumb meant Monopoly, and family members would dutifully play her favorite game with her for hours on end.

When she became confined to bed and nearly motionless, she would respond to questions by modulating the force of her breathing. She stopped breathing at 1:50 p.m. Jan. 5. She was at home, surrounded by family.