Stephanie Coleman, Gleaner Writer
DILLON
FRANCINE DILLON, the 19-year-old suffering from Thymic Carcinoma, died at the Mount Fiore Hospital in New York on February 17.
Miss Dillon was diagnosed with Thymic Carcinoma in October 2005 after suffering persistent coughs since February of that same year.
Miss Dillon was a student at the Queen's High School for Girls, Extension Division, where she studied food and nutrition with the hope of becoming a food technologist. Miss Dillon's mother, Sonya Binns, described her daughter as a humble Christian girl who continued to smile in spite of the burden of her long illness.
PRAYED A LOT
"She prayed a lot and had a strong faith in God," said Miss Binns.
Francine's sister, Sweets Law-rence, described her younger sibling as a positive force in her life.
"She was a motivator. She inspired me to be strong. Words are not enough to explain how she is," Miss Lawrence said.
According to The Francine Dillon Cancer Treatment Fund, a fund-raising initiative based in New York, her final moments were peaceful and she "reached out to everyone so dear to her, and reminded them of how much she loved them".
PUBLIC APPEALS
Francine's family made several public appeals for financial assistance to cover US$50,000 in medical expenses, after Dr. Sam Weinstein of Mount Fiore offered to remove the tumour for free.
Jamaicans from all walks of life res-ponded to Miss Binns' call raising enough money to send the mother and daughter to New York on Monday February 13. However, Francine succumbed to the illness before surgery began.
Miss Dillon leaves behind her mother, sister, and other relatives and friends.
Thymic Carcinoma is a rare and aggressive cancer that usually affects people between the ages of 40 and 60.
The cancer manifests itself in a large malignant tumor that presses against the heart and bulges from the chest making breathing and talking difficult.
