This is the story about Gabriella Cosner “G”, a healthy energetic little girl who was diagnosed with an aggressive and rare type of childhood cancer called rhabdomyosarcoma, how the CrossFit community came together to offer support and assistance to them through this trying time and how Tianna and her family, a young girl from the same town diagnosed with the same cancer came to join the Team G Mission.
Last March of 2012, the parents of Gabriella Cosner heard the words that no parent ever wants to hear in their life…”You’re daughter has cancer”. They reacted as any parent would under these circumstances and asked the questions, What? How could this be? Why our little girl? While traveling the difficult and heart breaking world of pediatric cancer, Kristin and Adam’s team were forming an army of support behind them…Team G. They had been active members of the CrossFit community here in Santa Cruz, Ca for over 4 years. Adam had received his Level 1 certification the months before Gabriella was born and Kristin started up when G was only 1 month old. G grew to love being a part of this community as much as her parents and often sat in a baby chair or with trainers while mom and dad worked out.
The first few months of Gabriella’s treatment kept Kristin and Adam very busy with learning that G would undergo 42 weeks of total therapy including, surgeries, biopsies, chemotherapy and radiation. They were beyond maxed out, emotionally and physically, when the CrossFit community came together to set up an obstacle course fundraiser and blood drive to raise money for G’s medical expenses. Kristin saw the outpour of support and love through this journey and vowed to keep it going for other children who were fighting cancer. Thus “Team G Foundation” was created in hopes that money will be raised all over the nation to help support families battling pediatric cancer and fund research for less toxic treatments.
Through this journey, Gabriella met Tianna Valdez, a 14 year old from the same town diagnosed with the same type of rare childhood cancer. Through her battle, Tianna always thought about others and tried to find a way to help children fighting cancer. While in treatment Tianna read about Gabriella in the newspaper and said to her parents, Claudia and Diego, “We have to help these people!”.
Tianna learned to stream her healing energy from her mother, Claudia who is the first at your doorstep with a car full of irresistible home-cooked food if you are sick, and who shows up at your doorstep ready to help when you are in need. When she is not working at Dominican Hospital, prized for her bilingual and bicultural abilities, she and Diego are parenting their spunky younger daughter, Leilani, running marathons, working out at the gym, or gathering with their friends and enormous extended family for a meal or a holiday.
Claudia and her energetic and committed family have been fierce supporters for raising funds and awareness for not only pediatric cancer but also school athletics and nutrition, disciplines Tianna cared about deeply. Because of her helpful and giving nature, Gabriella and Tianna’s families are now linked by the shared desire to find a cure and to help others facing childhood cancer.
