Shannon Tavarez, the petite star whose performance in Broadway’s ‘The Lion King’ and her brave fight with illness endeared her to theatergoers and stars such as Alicia Keys, Rihanna and 50 Cent, has died of leukemia.She was just 11-years old.Shannon passed away yesterday at at Cohen Children’s Medical Center on New York’s Long Island, according to Katharina Harf, co-founder of DKMS, the bone marrow donor group who fought to save her.
Having won the ‘Lion King’ role in February despite huge competition, Shannon was forced to quit in April when a blood test revealed ‘Acute Myeloid Leukemia,’ an aggressive cancer that usually affects adults. The prognosis was dark, but her love for her role as Nala was unbowed;“It’s an indescribable feeling, being on stage,” she told reporters at the time. “I portray this character with fears, but who is so tough. I feel like that’s who I am.”
A bone marrow transplant was not available for Shannon as she had mixed parentage – Her mother is black and her father’s Hispanic. Patients with mixed ancestry have less chance of success because there are far fewer donors, so Shannon received an umbilical-cord blood transplant in August instead. But the leukemia survived.
“Some people think the test for compatibility is scary,” she later wrote on her web site. “All it really takes to get started is a cotton swab of the inside of your cheek. So please, get tested today. Who knows? You might be my match. And remember… ‘One swab will do the job.’”
When news of Shannon’s condition reached the press, Alicia Keys, Rihanna and 50 Cent all tried to help find a donor and her fellow cast held donor registration drives at the Minskoff Theater, where the show is based.
10,000 people signed up, but not one matched Shannon.
“It’s rare that you meet such a spirited girl,” Harf told the Huff Post. “She touched so many people to register. She was really a special girl.”
Funeral arrangements are now in progress. Meantime, please remember Shannon and her folks in your prayers…
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