Former Angels Batgirl Faces Death as a Hero

The Angels winning the World Series was her first wish granted. Diana Ayala’s working on making a second come true: saving other children from the incurable disease that is killing her.

The 15-year-old held a bake sale Friday in a cafe at UCI Medical Center in Orange, where she is undergoing treatment for a rare type of bone cancer. She raised about $1,814 during the two-hour sale; she will donate the money to cancer research.

“I just want to find out about my cancer, so the doctors can help more kids survive the cancer,” said Diana, who has been told that she has less than six months to live.

A former Angels batgirl, Diana can rattle off all the players names, including one of her favorites, first baseman Scott Spiezio.

“I’ll be praying for you,” Spiezio said when he reached her by telephone Friday.

“I’m scared,” Diana admitted to Spiezio with a quiet sob.

Diana first complained of excruciating back pain shortly after her 12th birthday. She was diagnosed in 1999 with Ewing’s sarcoma.

The disease is difficult to detect until it is in advanced stages because it develops in the bone or soft tissue. Cancer in children as young as Diana is rare. Ewing’s sarcoma is especially rare, with only about 300 cases diagnosed each year, said Dr. Stanley Calderwood, a pediatric oncologist at the hospital.

“She’s a strong kid and mature for her age,” he said. “She’s not afraid to die, but she wants to keep fighting for as long as she can. It’s remarkable what she’s been able to do.”

Diana underwent surgery to remove the coin-size tumor detected in her lower spine. After radiation and chemotherapy treatments, the cancer went into remission.

But it recurred last year and metastasized in her left arm. The tumor has spread to her legs, confining her to a wheelchair, and, for the last two months, to the hospital.

“At this stage, we’re just trying to preserve the quality of life she wants, keep her mobile by controlling the pain and nausea and other symptoms,” Calderwood said.

Diana has kept busy, watching the World Series and finishing the latest “Harry Potter” book. Accepting the inevitable, she’s also planning her funeral “party.”

But in all her endeavors, she’s intent on feeling alive. And the one thing Diana loves more than the Angels is Betty Crocker brownies.

“The nurses here always bring me baked goods to make me feel better,” said Diana, who wears a jeweled Santa’s hat to cover her hair loss caused by the cancer treatment. She considered the bake sale a way to return the favor.

Because of her weakened condition, Diana is faced with the prospect of celebrating Christmas away from home.

“This is such a shock to us, and it’s so sad because she’s my younger sister,” said Tania, 16, one of Diana’s six brothers and sisters. Diana’s mother died of lung cancer when Diana was 8. She and her siblings live with their father and stepmother in Orange.

“But Diana is feisty,” Tania said. “She’ll get her way if she wants to come home for Christmas.”