Boy, 9, dies with wish fulfilled
Cancer victim lived 2 days after seeing his parents' wedding

08/05/2002

By KENDALL ANDERSON / The Dallas Morning News

Juan Merlan Jr. – the 9-year-old boy almost completely paralyzed by a rare and fast-growing germ cell cancer – died just after 9 p.m. Sunday, two days after he watched his parents' wedding ceremony from a wheelchair at Children's Medical Center of Dallas.

Juan's cancer returned this week despite numerous chemotherapy and radiation treatments in the last year. His conditioned worsened Friday, and he died at the hospital Sunday surrounded by family, a hospital spokeswoman said.

Family members could not immediately be reached for comment.


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How to help: Donations for Juan and Maria Merlan can be sent, in care of Ben Retta, to:
Children's Medical Center
Social Work Dept.
1935 Motor St.
Dallas, TX 75235.

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His final wish was to see his parents married, which they did Friday at an emotional ceremony attended by family, friends and hospital workers at the hospital's chapel. The couple had met 15 years ago but never married.
Juan received a diagnosis of cancer about a year ago when doctors discovered a tumor in his chest. Chemotherapy seemed to send the disease into remission until March, when it returned and spread to his brain. More chemotherapy and radiation treatments put the disease back into remission until last weekend, doctors said.



Juan Merlan Jr.
Last weekend, Juan returned home from camp, saying his legs were weak. Tests revealed the cancer had surrounded his spinal cord, said Dr. Robert Bash, a pediatric oncologist. He was admitted to the hospital immediately and began losing feeling in his feet. By Wednesday, he couldn't move his hands. By week's end, he had difficulty chewing.

The family, with the help of hospital officials, also found a small Chihuahua named Diamond, which his brothers presented to him Thursday, hospital officials said. He played with Diamond about two hours a day in his room at the hospital's Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders, another of his final wishes.

Survivors include his parents, Maria and Juan Merlan Sr., and three brothers, Ricardo, 13, Edgar, 12, and Emilio, 8.

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[This message has been edited by traveller115 (edited 08-11-2002).]