13-year-old making her way through her bucket list loses her battle to cancer

Shenyce Marsden-Roberts was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer at the age of 11. Photo/Supplied

Shenyce Marsden-Roberts, the bubbly 13-year-old who was making her way through her bucket list, has lost her two-year battle with a rare form of cancer.

She died on Wednesday.

In a post on the Supporting Shenyce Marsden-Roberts Facebook page, her mother Richelle Stables said the family had lost Shenyce in a battle "no child should have to fight".

"But she fought it, fought it as hard as she could, she is our soldier.

"No more pain and suffering our baby."

The post said Stables had also lost her "beautiful mum" on the same day.

"Your nanny held your hand the whole way, and she also chose to join you on your new journey. You will be well looked after by nanny my baby.

"You both will be missed and loved dearly."

Support has been flooding in on the Facebook page with comments sending love to the family.

"Such a strong beautiful young lady who fought so fiercely and bravely," one comment said.

"You get to share your next journey with your nanny who will definitely look after you and make sure you're safe, no more pain anymore."

Shenyce was diagnosed with rhabdomyosarcoma at the age of 11, when doctors found a 14cm tumour between her ribs and lung.

In December 2016 she had a nine and a half hour surgery to have the tumour removed, which her mother said "felt like a lifetime".

After receiving the all-clear in March last year, Shenyce relapsed that October.

"A 4.5cm tumour was found in her lower back, and even though it was smaller, it was 10 times more active," Stables said.

By late April the tumours had spread into her back and around her lungs, becoming unresponsive to treatment.

Doctors stopped chemotherapy and radiation treatment.

"We had to share this with Shenyce, at only 13, that she was palliative," Stables said.

Following her diagnosis, the family worked with Rotorua tourism operators to complete as much of her bucket list as they could.

Through the help of Andy Corson at Zorb Rotorua, Shenyce was able to go zorbing, luging, have a mud bath at Hell's Gate, on the Treetop walk in the Redwood forest, and was booked for even more.

The doctors had given her until Christmas, but she deteriorated rapidly.

She is survived by her parents Ara and Richelle and siblings Mokopapaki, Tu Rapaki, Kredence, Hine- Epuwai, Teliyah-Irie and Arapeta.

Shenyce and her nanny are both laying at Rangimarie Marae and will be laid to rest on Monday at 11am at Ringaringa Urupa.

What is rhabdomyosarcoma?
- Childhood rhabdomyosarcoma is a disease in which cancer cells form in muscle tissue.
- Rhabdomyosarcoma is the most common type of soft tissue sarcoma in children. It can begin in many places in the body.
- Recent estimates show the incidence of the disease at about 4.5 cases per 1 million children/adolescents.
- It accounts for about 3.5 per cent of cancer cases among children ages 0 to 14.
- There are different types of treatment for patients with childhood rhabdomyosarcoma the standard types are surgery, radiation therapy and chemotherapy.