By MAUREEN DOHERTY
NORTH READING — Life is an adventure best shared with friends. Whether the occasion is magnificent or mundane, true friends know how to enjoy each other’s company simply by sharing laughter, celebrating accomplishments and providing a buffer against life’s bumps and bruises.
Maya Ortiz, Brianna Aalto, Mia Benecke and Lauren Feffer are fortunate to have learned such lessons early in life. Inseparable since middle school, these 2024 graduates of North Reading High School—now rising college sophomores—have experienced the full breadth of true friendship while still teenagers.
The strength of their friendship has enabled Brianna, Mia and Lauren to provide unconditional emotional support to Maya after she was given a devastating diagnosis of ovarian cancer midway through their senior year of high school. It is not unusual for these four “besties” to burst out in fits of laughter as they recount the fun times they’ve spent together in school during lunch, on a trip to the beach, Aruba, Costa Rica, Florida, or even at a self-described “cancer party!”
Maya’s resilience continues to inspire them and their extended network of family and friends. This vivacious young woman has not only navigated her first year of college as a dean’s list student majoring in biology on a pre-med track, she did so while undergoing chemotherapy treatments and doctors’ appointments that would take her far away from the UMass Amherst campus to Dana-Farber in Boston or Sloan-Kettering in New York.
Maya admits that none of this would have been possible for her to accomplish without the steadfast support from her mom, Mayra Bolden, who accompanies her to all of her treatments and who would stay in Amherst at a nearby hotel for several days until she regained her strength. Then they’d do it all over again three weeks later.
As if this was not enough, Maya is training this summer to become an EMT and she has such a strong desire to provide hope to other young adults facing a life-threatening cancer diagnosis and to educate the public about ovarian cancer that she and her friends and their families have spent the summer organizing “Trotting in Teal,” a walk for ovarian cancer awareness being held at Ipswich River Park on Saturday, July 19 from noon to 3 p.m.
Teal is the symbolic ribbon color of ovarian cancer and Brianna, who has an interest in marketing, helped come up with the slogan.
Celebratory event in the park
Naturally, there will be a celebratory atmosphere at the IRP on July 19 and the more the merrier! The walk itself will take place entirely within the park, Maya said, adding that it will not be too strenuous at about 2 miles in total.
The day’s celebratory atmosphere will be enhanced by a “carnival” of sorts featuring music, lawn games, and catered food from Nick’s Place plus hotdogs, pizza, popcorn, cotton candy, a special “teal” drink from Empower on Haven, drinks from Aroma Joe’s, balloons and ovarian cancer awareness “goodie bags.”
The girls said that their families, who are very close, will all be volunteering at the event. Maya will also address the crowd.
To date, they’ve raised awareness of the event via social media and the fliers they have posted throughout town at various businesses. Maya wanted to thank North Reading Youth Soccer for their support in spreading the word. She played soccer throughout childhood and at NRHS. The posters have a QR code that takes people to a registration page to sign up for $40. Although the registration officially closed July 2, that was necessary only to enable them to order the t-shirts in time (white with teal lettering). But they said supporters are still welcome to register or show up at the park on the day of the event to participate and donate to the cause. They’ve ordered extra t-shirts which will be available while supplies last to those who did not register before the deadline.
All of the funds they raise will be donated to a young adult battling cancer. Maya is not going to limit the recipient to ovarian cancer simply because it is so rare for a young adult to be diagnosed with it.
Maya’s journey
Ovarian cancer is rarely diagnosed in teenagers, so she and her family were shocked when she received the diagnosis. “It was my senior year in February. I just had this stomach ache that just would not go away,” she recalled. “For years I always thought I had a sensitive stomach and it hurt after eating random foods. No one really thought anything of it. I have had multiple doctors’ appointments and they just told me ‘have a bland diet.’ One time it was just getting so bad that we went to the ER and we waited literally six hours because they didn’t think anything was really wrong with me. And they didn’t want to give me a scan, My mom pushed and pushed to get me a CT scan.”
Thankfully her mom’s persistence paid off. After she had her CT scan, Maya said she will never forget the moment they came into her room “and were like ‘wow, we are so sorry.’
The cancer was everywhere. The cancer had spread so many places. From there we went to Dana-Farber and they told me ‘you have Stage 3 ovarian cancer’ and they set up surgery in the next two weeks. And my life has changed completely since then. I underwent a 10-hour surgery that was supposed to be six and there was so much (cancer) that it had to go longer and everyone was freaking out about that.”
“After that I had to do six rounds of chemo and that still didn’t cut it; they still see growth and new progression. So I had to try new medications. A big thing about ovarian cancer is there is not a lot of treatment out there… These things have yet to work for me. It was recommended that I go to New York to Sloan Kettering and I have been doing treatment there.
I finished a round of chemo there and that did not even work,” Maya said.
Through another stroke of luck, there is a new treatment that she will try soon. “There is this new pill that (Mia’s) uncle has been working with – what are the odds? And it is this new treatment for ovarian cancer and it is perfect timing for me to start this trial. I will be trying it in the next month. It is supposed to be a magical cure so I am excited!”
“But it has been a long journey. I am still fighting but I am very hopeful. With all of this I just have tried to stay positive and never skip a beat through life,” Maya said. “That is something my mom always taught me. And I had so much support from the town and my family and friends and everyone, even strangers, that I just felt like I wanted to give back. I always felt that I needed to do something for other people because I felt that I knew so much and I could give so much to people that are struggling, and that is what the walk is for.”
Maya’s cancer diagnosis is not what inspired her to pursue a medical degree. “For my whole life I have always wanted to be a doctor. I always wanted to work in women’s health,” she said, pointing out the irony that she would be diagnosed with a cancer that only affects women. “It has made me even more so passionate about it. I feel like you get experience and perspective that a lot of people won’t get. I know what it’s like to be the patient.”
She also knows what it’s like to be the youngest patient in the cancer ward too, which is another reason she wants to raise funds that will be given to another young adult going through cancer treatments, especially someone who may not be as fortunate as she is to have such a caring community surrounding her. She hasn’t decided how to award the funds yet, but whoever receives it will be able to use the money to buy or do anything they want. “Maybe we’ll have an essay contest,” she said.
Even though college has taken them far away from each other, this foursome remains tightly knit. Lauren attends UConn where she majors in finance; Mia attends the University of Delaware where she majors in nursing, and Brianna attends the University of Maryland where she is leaning toward a marketing degree. They still talk every day and get together during vacations even if it’s just a trip to the beach.
Mia recalled, “When she didn’t come back from school after February break it was very significant in our lives. We would do everything together.”
Lauren spoke about how Maya inspires her and how much she admires her work ethic. “People failed out of college not doing half the things you do, and you are still excelling so much!” she told her.
Mia agreed, referring to her as a ray of sunshine. “You still have time to think about other people,” she said.
Brianna added that Maya has always displayed “so much grace” even when faced with the worst news.
During their “cancer party” before Maya’s surgery they recalled just dancing the night away. While she was recovering they would drop off goodie baskets to her house.
“They check on me all the time. I get so much support from these girls!” Maya said. She also thanked her boyfriend, Jake Kalapinski, for his “amazing support.” They had only been dating for a few months when she received her diagnosis. “He stuck by me and comes to the hospital all the time with flowers and gifts. Even when I was bald he would tell me: ‘You are the most beautiful girl in world!’” she said.
