Liyah Nicole Valdez

I can't believe I'm saying this...but unfortunately, on January 31, 2023, my daughter Liyah lost her life at the age of 13 after battling Myotonic Muscular Dystrophy. The same day as my birthday, which will now never be celebrated the same again. Liyah Nicole Valdez was born on March 8th, 2009. She was born prematurely at only 7 months and later diagnosed with this rare condition. She was trach and vented, one of the reasons why her life may have been cut short. We are waiting on the medical examiner to let us know in 8-12 weeks the exact cause of her passing. From the day I had her, she always fought through all the negativity that was being sent her way. Time and time again she proved doctors wrong, but unfortunately, I think this time they were right. They warned us that she might not live after her 13th birthday, but she fought and gave us a couple of months more to make it to the new year with us. She had a happy life living in the home with her family; her mom Joann, her dad Hadji, her big sister Nevaeh and her little brother Dominic who shares in her condition. Liyah is my second child to gain wings. She is now an angel above with her little sister Katalaya Serenity Oranday who passed on 12/28/17.

Liyah was a loving person and she was always happy, and always brought so much joy to people's hearts. She was silly, sweet, kind, spunky, wild, stubborn, fun, and loving. She was the biggest chatterbox but we loved that about her and she was smart. When you would be having a bad day Liyah would be the one to make you smile. She loved school, coloring and her Elsa and Mona dolls. She loved spending time doing makeup with her sister, she loved cracking jokes back and forth with her dad and sometimes they would playfully insult each other (like she would call him "fat" and he would say she was jeepers creepers cousin, lol). She loved doing nursery rhymes with mommy and with her little brother. They had their own connection because they were the same. We would catch them in little moments, loving each other and playing and laughing. She had her own connections with everybody.

As a grieving mother, I am asking if you would please help with donations so I can give my daughter a proper funeral. It was such an unexpected passing and our funds are nowhere near where they need to be to do that. Any donations are appreciated and thank you for taking the time to read this to know the story of our daughter Liyah Nicole Valdez. She will be dearly missed each and every day of our lives.

You can learn more about Liyah's rare condition here: https://www.myotonic.org