LAKE COUNTY ? Courtney Davis, 16, of Cloverdale was brave since the day she was diagnosed with cancer. She was playing soccer in May 2005, one of the many sports she loved, when she felt pain in her lower back.
Courtney”s life was cut short when she passed away Jan. 5 at the UC San Francisco Medical Center, after a courageous battle against a rare form of bone cancer that required daily chemotherapy and thus frequent stays in San Francisco.
“She had a great personality that touched a lot of people,” said Courtney”s mom Cathy Davis.
“She was just always so brave. Before Courtney had her diagnosis, she gave a girl whose father had cancer a poem. It was about how life isn”t about keeping score, or about who you”ve dated, about sports, shoes, hair or the color of skin?life is about who you love, about trust and happiness?and seeing people for who they are.”
When Courtney was diagnosed with Ewing”s sarcoma?a cancer that usually occurs in adolescence, afflicting about one teen in 50,000?she did not let it take away her optimism and outlook on life. “She told the girl that she was going to live by the words of the poem, and Courtney really did. Despite the cancer diagnosis, she didn”t feel sorry for herself,” Cathy Davis said.
Courtney Davis enjoyed hanging out with her three BFF”s (best friends forever), school, sports, attending concerts and more recently, riding her quad and driving her Volkswagen Jetta. She wanted to get her license, but each time she wanted to apply, she felt too sick, Cathy Davis said.
Courtney Davis received a trip through Make-A-Wish foundation to the Mall of America in Minnesota, but the experience she liked even more was attending concerts at Konocti Harbor Resort and Spa in Kelseyville, Cathy Davis said.
Through the Sea Breeze Foundation, which was formed at Konocti Harbor in remembrance of Brianne “Breezy” Beighle, a young girl who suffered from brain cancer, Courtney became a part of the Konocti family, president and general manager Greg Bennett said.
Now a memorial scholarship in Courtney”s name will be formed, Bennett said.
“She was a special, special girl; you would never know she was going through treatment. She came to two shows, a country show (Rascal Flatts) and then she came back as a rocker in August (to see Hinder, Papa Roach and Buckcherry), unfortunately for the last time. She was hurting, but boy she had a great time, she hung out, went to the spa, was the specialist in our VIP party. She became very close to our staff and we were all just devastated to hear she had passed,” Bennett said.
“Even after everything that happened, Konocti and Greg Bennett have been very supportive in helping with Courtney”s arrangements,” Cathy Davis said.
Cloverdale High School, where Courtney completed her sophomore year, is also setting up a scholarship in her name.
“We haven”t met with the school yet. We”ll decide whether we want it for sports or academics. I think we”re going to do both because Courtney liked both so much,” Davis said.
Contact Elizabeth Wilson at ewilson@record-bee.com.
