Cancer survivor shines brightly in life and in sports through Milo Olympics

CEBU, Philippines -  Amidst the glitz and glamour brought about by the sport she's into lies a child who, at a very young age, had to battle cancer and amazingly survived it with flying colors.

At the age of four, Daniela Reggie Castañeda-De la Pisa, the National Milo Little Olympics Most Outstanding Athlete in elementary gymnastics, was diagnosed with cancer of the ovary but she had gone through an operation and underwent an extensive chemotherapy sessions until she got completely healed.

She had gone bald because of the chemo treatment, bullied by classmates and playmates because she's a girl and has no hair. She even had to stop her nursery class to avoid getting bullied further.

But hers is an inspiring story of survival that continues to live on with her shining exploits in gymnastics even at her tender age.

Daniela showed interest in the sports even before she got stricken with cancer. At first, she wanted to do the artistic side wherein she would have to deal  with the balance beam and other apparatus that requires a lot of somersaults.

But after her operation, she shifted to the rhythmic sportive gymnastics which is less strenuous. When she was already given the clean bill of health, Daniela started training for fun until she plunged into competitive action when she was Grade 2 at the University of the Visayas.

Her battle for survival indeed continues only this time not with cancer, but with gymnastics.

There's no special treatment for Daniela even if her mom Darlene is the head trainer of the UV gymnastics team. She had to exert extra effort to be noticed and prove she deserves a slot for the team.

After missing a gold in events she competed last year, Daniela tried harder until she eventually made 2013 by far her brightest year.

After the regional eliminations of the 2013 Milo Little Olympics, Daniela shifted focus to the Philippine Youth Games or Batang Pinoy in Manila where she grabbed a gold, silver and bronze despite being one of the youngest entries.

Despite being given only a week to master her new routine, Daniela did it perfectly, with grace and elegance on the way to another golden performance during the MLO National Finals over the weekend at the Cebu City Sports Center.

She may look frail and fragile on the side but when she performed, she was definitely a head-turner that even came as a surprise to her mom-coach Darlene.

“It was very unexpected. I was betting on Marianne (Aledago) to deliver the goods for us since she's way ahead of Daniela but Daniela refused to be bothered when it was almost her time to perform and to our surprise, she did really well,” said the proud mom.

Daniela hauled three individual golds through the hoop, ribbon, and all-around events. She also led the charge in the team gold she spiced up with a silver from the rope and ball that paved the way for her to snatch the MOA award.

Now that she somehow forgotten about her cancer, the youthful Daniela looks forward to the future full of hope and deep sense of optimism.

And the best part is that she is now enjoying life to the fullest, with big dreams of making it to the national team someday and bring pride and honor to the country in international competitions.

“I want to be in the national team because I feel that it's nice to be one of them. Someday when I'm no longer a gymnast, I want to be a teacher and a coach. I really love to share my talents to others that even now if kids would like to learn something about the sport, I gladly show them how,” said the young champion, an inspiring survivor in life. (FREEMAN)