Christina's Scholarship Fund
Donation protected
My name is Sonia Bejjani and I am blessed to be the mother of a most amazing, talented, and brave young lady.
On June 24th, 1988 we welcomed the arrival of our only child Christina, We were as happy as any parents could be of our precious little girl. She was beautiful and, like all moms and dads, and we were full of hope for our daughter.
One day changed our lives forever. We took Christina to the doctor because her dad noticed that the way light reflected on her eye seemed not quite right. We brought her to the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Hospital never expecting what happened. Little Christina, who was only 2 years old, was diagnosed with Retinoblastoma and her left eye needed to be immediately removed.
We were devastated but resolved to give our little girl the best life possible. We looked at our beautiful and brave 2 year old daughter struggle to understand why she now had a glass eye which needed to be pulled from its socket with a plunger each day to be cleaned.
Christina was always happy and gave us great pride as she never complained.
One day when Christina was just 4 years old she was playing and fainted. The doctors originally thought she had a heart murmur due to PDA or Patent Ductus Arteriosus however we came to learn that is was worse... Much worse.
Christina would have Pulmonary Hypertension
due to a genetic disorder which caused the arteries to
her lungs to never fully develop. Christina had a disease that would take her life before she ever would get a chance to live.
The news of this broke our hearts. Our little girl would die before she could grow up. As Christina grew old enough to understand we made her aware of her condition and what would happen. Christina did not cry or feel bad for herself. Not at all. Instead she resolved to finished high school and went on to pursue her dream to study law and that is exactly what she did.
Christina went on to graduate from Georgetown High School and enrolled in North Shore Community College. The hospital visits got more frequent and it became harder and harder for Christina to take a breath but she insisted on remaining in school. While she could no longer handle a full schedule she kept taking a class or two to complete her dream.
In 2015 Christina was admitted to hospital from which she would never leave. She only had one class remaining to graduate and receive her degree but she would not live long enough to see commencement. On March 7th, 2015 I was by Christina's side when she took her last breath and passed away.
In recognition of the tremendous achievements made by Christina including rising to Deans List on two occasions the North Shore Community College in April 2016 awarded her degree posthumously.
In memory of Christina and to honor her and her dreams we are establishing a scholarship in her name to the North Shore Community College. This scholarship is to be awarded to others who struggle with either Retinoblastoma or Pulmonary Hypertension or both like our Christina and to encourage others to pursue their dreams in hopes of a cure and long life.
We are thankful to all of you that can help this cause in any way and we are certain that Christina would be warmed to know that although her life was taken far too soon that it had meaning and pupose as an inspiration for others to never give up...
On June 24th, 1988 we welcomed the arrival of our only child Christina, We were as happy as any parents could be of our precious little girl. She was beautiful and, like all moms and dads, and we were full of hope for our daughter.
One day changed our lives forever. We took Christina to the doctor because her dad noticed that the way light reflected on her eye seemed not quite right. We brought her to the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Hospital never expecting what happened. Little Christina, who was only 2 years old, was diagnosed with Retinoblastoma and her left eye needed to be immediately removed.
We were devastated but resolved to give our little girl the best life possible. We looked at our beautiful and brave 2 year old daughter struggle to understand why she now had a glass eye which needed to be pulled from its socket with a plunger each day to be cleaned.
Christina was always happy and gave us great pride as she never complained.
One day when Christina was just 4 years old she was playing and fainted. The doctors originally thought she had a heart murmur due to PDA or Patent Ductus Arteriosus however we came to learn that is was worse... Much worse.
Christina would have Pulmonary Hypertension
due to a genetic disorder which caused the arteries to
her lungs to never fully develop. Christina had a disease that would take her life before she ever would get a chance to live.
The news of this broke our hearts. Our little girl would die before she could grow up. As Christina grew old enough to understand we made her aware of her condition and what would happen. Christina did not cry or feel bad for herself. Not at all. Instead she resolved to finished high school and went on to pursue her dream to study law and that is exactly what she did.
Christina went on to graduate from Georgetown High School and enrolled in North Shore Community College. The hospital visits got more frequent and it became harder and harder for Christina to take a breath but she insisted on remaining in school. While she could no longer handle a full schedule she kept taking a class or two to complete her dream.
In 2015 Christina was admitted to hospital from which she would never leave. She only had one class remaining to graduate and receive her degree but she would not live long enough to see commencement. On March 7th, 2015 I was by Christina's side when she took her last breath and passed away.
In recognition of the tremendous achievements made by Christina including rising to Deans List on two occasions the North Shore Community College in April 2016 awarded her degree posthumously.
In memory of Christina and to honor her and her dreams we are establishing a scholarship in her name to the North Shore Community College. This scholarship is to be awarded to others who struggle with either Retinoblastoma or Pulmonary Hypertension or both like our Christina and to encourage others to pursue their dreams in hopes of a cure and long life.
We are thankful to all of you that can help this cause in any way and we are certain that Christina would be warmed to know that although her life was taken far too soon that it had meaning and pupose as an inspiration for others to never give up...
Organizer
Sonia Bejjani
Organizer
Peabody, MA