Selma family facing childhood cancer fight again

SELMA, Calif. (KFSN) -- A Selma grandmother, who's also the guardian of some of her grandchildren, is living by faith over fear, after finding out her four-year-old granddaughter has cancer.

"I know first-hand the power of miracles," said Selma resident Angelica Barrera-Villarreal. "I'm just gonna hold onto that and take it day by day. That's all I can do."

One of Angelica's daughters went through childhood cancer when she was six-- she wasn't expected to survive. Now, that daughter is a healthy 19-year-old. But with little Averry, history is repeating itself.

"Yes I'm scared," Angelica said. "I'm not gonna lie, I'm terrified of what could happen with the baby. And I was terrified with my daughter and look at her now. She's 19. So I left it all in God's hands. I said, 'okay God, you work the same miracle that you worked with my daughter, bring us out of this.' So I'm leaving it in His hands."

Last week, they found out Averry has a tumor the size of a grapefruit in one of her kidneys. The cancer has also spread to her lungs and some lymph nodes. The plan is for chemotherapy to shrink the tumor before it's removed. It's a long road ahead for the family, especially since Averry is one of seven grandchildren living under Angelica's care right now. On top of that, she says her husband is also going through his own cancer treatment, on top of other conditions.

"As you can see there's no time to sulk and feel sorry for myself or for anybody," Angelica said. "I just need to keep pushing, move forward, do what I gotta do, because in the end, right now I'm in charge of everybody."

In the meantime, they plan to do everything they can to make the upcoming holidays extra special for Averry.

"This is probably going to be the hardest time of my life right now. I'm holding onto hope and faith that she's gonna pull through all this."

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