She was a fighter, but she was only a child. Saying goodbye was painful.
Soraya Moghaddam was laid to rest at Miramar National Cemetery Tuesday. The 9-year-old died on March 9 after battling a rare form of cancer for years.
“The most beautiful thing about this girl is that she was a creative, gregarious child who was endlessly dancing and singing,” Soraya’s grandmother Tessa Marcus said. “She had joie de vivre. You know, she loved life.”
NBC 7 spent time with Soraya in 2023 during a round of chemotherapy at Rady Children’s Hospital. The girl was constantly flanked by family throughout her fight.
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“Cancer causes an existential crisis in children,” Marcus said. “It's not like she doesn't have a sense of her own mortality and the threat and the danger it posed to her, but, you know, she bounced back all the time, and she was just determined to live as long as she could.”
The U.S. Navy even recognized Soraya’s bravery by naming her an honorary Chief Petty Officer. Both of her parents are sailors.
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“She was honored because of her engagement in the world,” Marcus explained.
Soraya died a few weeks shy of her 10th birthday. More than 100 sailors joined hundreds of family and friends at her memorial service Tuesday. Soraya’s younger sister Sasha even spoke during the service.
“I think this is the hardest thing for sisters or children or siblings, because a loss, you don't overcome these losses. You live with them. But you don't overcome them,” sighed Marcus. “It's important to always celebrate people's lives, to honor them, but to live with them while they're living as well.”
