Eight-year-old leaves behind framework for "Conquer Childhood Cancer Act"

Eight-year-old Jenessa Nicole "Boey" Byers died Friday at Doernbecher Children's Hospital in Portland.

Boey's struggle with a rare form of childhood cancer touched the hearts of people in Corvallis and across the country. In July, ABC's "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" came to town and with help from thousands of local volunteers built her family a new house on their Lewisburg property. The program featuring construction of the Byers' home aired nationwide in October.

The girl was diagnosed with pneumonia last Saturday at Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center, said Pastor Russ Stiverson of the Corvallis Nazarene Church, where the Byerses are members. Boey was transported to Samaritan Albany General Hospital and then to Doernbecher.

"It was expected, yet unexpected," Stiverson said Friday. "In the last couple of weeks there have been several instances that led to the decline."

Boey was reportedly recovering from surgeries - one to remove a brain tumor and one to repair a fractured hip - when the pneumonia was detected.

Born on May 20, 1999, Boey was diagnosed in January 2006 with rhabdomyosarcoma, a rare form of cancer that causes brain tumors.

Boey is survived by her parents, Rob and Rachel Byers, and two brothers, Chris and Joe.

During her fight with cancer, Boey's family supported her as she made frequent trips to Doernbecher Children's Hospital for treatment.

"She was only an 8-year-old girl," Stiverson said. "We just had such faith that she would be able to beat this and come out of it and live a healthy life. That just wasn't in the Lord's timing."

The community rallied around Boey. With the help of thousands of local volunteers and homebuilders, the "Extreme Makeover" crew demolished the Byerses' home and built the family a new home in seven days this summer.

The new home offered Boey a sterile environment to help keep her healthy, unlike the Byerses' old home, which had been infiltrated by dampness and mold.

While battling tumors, pain, weakness and depression, Boey reached out to others, taking stuffed toys to other Doernbecher Children's Hospital patients and lobbying Congress to pass a "Conquer Childhood Cancer Act," which would increase funding for the treatment, prevention and cure of childhood cancer.

"If we really stop and think about it, the impact that she has had in the last two years is more significant than most of us would have if we lived to 100," said Stiverson.