“She was tough”: Delilah Love leaves a lasting mark on the world

LOS ANGELES (KGET) – Not everyone succeeds in making a lasting impression on the world in less than 10 years. Not every life leaves a mark on the hearts of complete strangers.
But that was Delilah Love’s reality.

A paragon of joy and courage, she died Sunday evening in her father’s arms at LA Children’s Hospital, two months before her tenth birthday.

She was battling stage four neuroblastoma, a cancer that attacks nerve cells and is particularly common in children.

Delilah inspired a foundation dedicated to supporting the families of children with cancer.

She inspired a book aimed at elementary school students to help them understand cancer – “Hey There Delilah,” named after a song of the same name, Delilah’s favorite. And she inspired that song’s author, Tom Higgenson of the Plain White T’s, to pay her a surprise visit in the hospital.

But the book’s author, Stephani Miranda Pierce, a close friend of Samantha Loya, Delilah’s mother and co-founder of her foundation, says Delilah’s legacy goes deeper. Deeper than a song, deeper than a book, deeper even than the LA Rams cheerleaders.

“She was tough,” Pierce said. “And when the doctor said yesterday, ‘It could take days or hours,’ we knew it would take days. We knew that and she knew that. She fought until her last breath.”

“The world prayed for her. The world loved her and the messages reached from Iowa to India. And I just thought: How special that this little girl touched so many people.”

Delilah, who joined us on the 17 News set in January 2023, was 4 when she started complaining of leg pain. After months of tests and scans, she was diagnosed with cancer. She endured more than two dozen chemotherapy treatments over two years. There were joys along the way, including some that went viral.

Her mother’s Instagram post announcing Delilah’s death included these words:
“I will be on the lookout for signs, especially the butterflies…” wrote Loya. “You once told me that butterflies are a message from God letting us know that everything will be OK.”