Cary's Trinity Oaks Christian Academy celebrates student's cancer-free status

The gymnasium at Trinity Oaks Christian Academy in Cary was filled with joy, cheers and happy tears on Monday morning as the school celebrated one student's news that she is now cancer free.

Around the school, posters with a purple background and gold heart proclaimed "Quinn is a Survivor."

In the academy's gymnasium, Quinn Snare's fellow students waited, purple and gold ribbons in hands, for her to enter.

When she finally came in, carried by her mother, Danielle Snare, everyone gathered in the gym cheered loudly and waved their ribbons in the air to honor her.

Quinn Snare, 7, of Cary, was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia on Dec. 21, 2017. She spent that Christmas in the hospital, and her treatments started quickly, such as the surgery to place a power port in her chest, chemotherapy infusions and blood and platelet transfusions.

It was during this time that Trinity Oaks Christian Academy started rallying around Quinn Snare's family - mom, Danielle, dad, Joseph and brothers, Colton, 8 and Kasen, 4.

Friends of the Snares set up a meal train, so they could have dinner taken care of, and set up a GoFundMe for the family. Some people helped take the Snares' two boys to places they needed to go while Danielle Snare was at the hospital caring for her daughter, and they offered the family "constant prayers."

"We were newer to this school when it first happened," Danielle Snare said. "I didn't know what was gonna happen and yet, you know, there's this new family and they just came around us and carried us through it."

Quinn Snare received her final chemotherapy infusion and spinal procedure in January. On Feb. 5, she got to ring the No More Chemo bell at the hospital.

Danielle Snare teared up as she watched a video played during the celebration, showing Quinn Snare's journey during her treatment.

"Just the memories and the emotions over the past few years, watching her battle and remembering those times, and then seeing her now, seeing that she's a survivor, and seeing how great the Lord has been and how faithful He has been to her and to us," Danielle Snare said. "It was just an amazing time to just really kind of reflect on these past two years and where we were, and now where we're at."

Before her diagnosis, Quinn was a happy-go-lucky little girl, always playing outside with her brothers.

"She loves dance and cheer, basketball and baseball," Danielle Snare said. "And so when she got sick, we knew something was wrong."

Not only was Quinn lethargic, but she also was getting bloody noses, vomiting and bruising.

What got the family through, Danielle Snare said, was their faith in Jesus Christ, as well as family, friends and the support of those at Trinity Oaks Christian Academy.

"Talk about a true village, a true family," Danielle Snare said. "This school embodies that, and they came around us and helped us and supported us and they were able to help us get through."

While students and teachers left the gymnasium after the celebration, everyone who passed Quinn Snare and her family gave them tight hugs and fist bumps.

Danielle Snare is no stranger to the toll cancer can take on a family.

She was about the same age as her oldest son is now when her brother was diagnosed with cancer.

"There's a lot of things I remember and a lot of things that helped shape the way that I looked at life, and how I took life to its fullest knowing that we're going to face many different obstacles and trials in our lives," Danielle Snare said. "How we overcome it and how we face it kind of makes the person we are today."

Her brother was 3½ when he died.

"You kind of see both ends of it," Danielle Snare said. "It was crazy, growing up, knowing I lost my brother to cancer and, then as a mom, and seeing my daughter being diagnosed, it was a whirlwind of emotions."

The next stop for the family is a trip to Disney World. Make-A-Wish approached them, and asked Quinn Snare what she wanted to do. Her answer? She wanted to meet the princesses.

"So Disney World, it is," Danielle Snare said.