Battle with cancer ends for Ariel Ball

From staff reports

May 09, 2008 09:46 am

— A Laurel teenager who battled against a rare form of cancer died Wednesday.
The daughter of Dennis and Marjann Ball, Ariel Ball was 15.
Ball fought against osteosarcarna, a form of bone cancer, for three years.
She spent months in hospitals. She was allowed to return to Laurel after spending nine months in the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson and the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Penn. She was in remission and given permission to go home. She also faced months of intensive physical therapy to regain use of her legs, but was able to continue her education through homeschooling and even able to have piano lessons.
She was also honored by Mayor Melvin Mack during a Main Street Festival where she served as grand marshall of the parade.
According to her grandmother, Dr. Dorothy Kalehoff, her family also celebrated an early Christmas the year after she spent so much time in hospitals. She wasn’t able to help with Christmas decorating while she was in the Pennsylvania hospital, so her family decorated even before Thanksgiving “to keep the promise to young Ariel Ball that this Christmas she would help with the decorations because last year she was in Pennsylvania in a hospital for cancer surgery.”
The entire family also traveled to Walt Disney World that Christmas for the taping of the annual Disney Christmas Parade. Life was looking up for Ariel Ball and her family. She was able to walk some without her crutches, went horseback riding, and spent time with family and friends. She had overnight guests and went to the Nora Davis Christmas program. But, not long after that, her family received more bad news. They had to return to Philadelphia for more tests.
“She and her mother were flown to Children’s Hospital on New Year’s Day,” her grandmother said. “After consultation with a team of doctors, she was told she must undergo cancer surgery again.”
Even with the news, Ariel Ball’s strength remained.
“This courageous little girl amazes us all and remains our inspiration. Today she told me, ‘I must be strong. I’m all right, and I want everybody else to be okay too,’” her mother said.
A celebration of Ariel Ball’s life will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday at First United Methodist Church where the Rev. Don Patterson will officiate. In lieu of flowers, the family asks memorials be made to the JCJC Foundation Mississippi for Scholarships for cancer survivors who are going to be teachers.

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