(Stockton)

209 Cheer and Dance is a proud supporter of Relay for Life – Team Life is Pretty.  Alina “Pretty” Mendoza is a Stockton resident who has overcome her battle with cancer not once, but TWICE!  She was diagnosed with ependymoma (a brain tumor over 7 ½ inches in size) on November 16, 2004, when she was only 2 ½ years old. She went into remission in October 2005. On September 28, 2007, she stopped breathing in her mother’s arms. It was discovered that she had a 6 centimeter mass blocking her airway, and she was subsequently diagnosed with lymphoblastic lymphoma (a blood cancer). She went into remission in November 2010.