Cancer Claims Girl Who Was Focus of Community Drive

A young girl whose battle against an inoperable brain tumor sparked a tremendous community fund-raising effort died Saturday in a Texas hospital.

Aja Tate, who had a tumor in her brain stem, succumbed to an infection while she was receiving an experimental gene therapy paid for with donated funds, her family said.

She would have been 7 years old on Feb. 23.

“I know people say she’s in a better place, but I still feel her place is with me,” said her mother, Joyce Tate.

Aja, who was diagnosed as having the tumor in June, had radiation treatment last summer, then slipped into a coma after the tumor began to bleed. When she woke up, she was paralyzed.

Doctors said there was little hope, but her parents wanted to take Aja to Houston, where a doctor performs a controversial gene therapy that some cancer patients have said helped when all else failed.

In the few weeks Aja had the procedure, she showed some improvement and was able to move her shoulder and wiggle her toes, Tate said.

“She put up a good fight,” she said.

Aja’s plight generated a tremendous response after Ronda Jones, a teacher at her elementary school, helped organize a drive to raise money for the treatment, which was not covered by the family’s health insurance.

By last week, $61,000 in donations had been raised. Letters and cards for Aja, along with pictures drawn by children, flooded the Carson city treasurer’s office, which was administering a trust account to pay for her medical expenses.

“Everybody here is just very sad,” said City Treasurer Mary Custer. “We cry a lot for that little girl.”

A benefit concert for Aja, to be held Feb. 26 at the Wiltern Theatre, is still tentatively scheduled to go on, organizers said. The money raised would be used to help other families with sick children who want treatments not covered by their insurance companies.

Funeral services for Aja are pending, her mother said.