Nicole Romualdo, the brave little girl who was fighting cancer, and that the St. Cloud community came together to love on with a very special one-year birthday parade last year, sadly passed away last Friday.
Nicole was fighting Rhabdomyosarcoma, a rare sarcoma that develops in the muscles and can cause severe pain and swelling. About 350 children, teens, and young adults in the United States are diagnosed with rhabdomyosarcoma each year with Rhabdomyosarcoma being slightly more common in boys and often occurring before age 5.
Debora and William, Nicole’s parents had to make the tough choice to cancel her daughter’s 1st birthday party last year because of all the additional responsibilities necessary to take care of Nicole, but that’s where the community kicked in.
Although the Romualdo family were new to their neighborhood, their new neighbors and friends, like Heather Gibbs and Lindsey Taylor, put together a birthday drive-by celebration that included the St. Cloud Police Department, Pink Heals from St. Cloud along with their Pink firetruck Kris, the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office, Positively Osceola, Princesses Against Cancer, and numerous friends and neighbors. The birthday celebration parade kicked off at Chisolm Park in Narcoossee and made its way, along with car honking and sirens blaring, to Nicole’s home where she was showered with smiles, laughter, gifts, photos, a “smash cake” from Publix, and of course… bunches of love from everyone.
Please join us in praying for Nicole’s family. A Celebration of Life Service honoring her life will be open to the public this Saturday, February 19 at 10 am at First Baptist Orlando.
