PORTLAND, Ore. – When she was in seventh grade, Nathalie Traller finally made the jump from recreational soccer to competitive club ball. She had always been so active that this move seemed like a natural move for the 13 year-old Beaverton native.
But then came the shock diagnosis that in the words of Nathalie's father, “rocked her world.” Nathalie, it turns out, had developed a rare form of cancer called alveolar soft part sarcoma (ASPS) that affects the body's soft tissues. ASPS is so rare, in fact, that it comprises less than one percent of all sarcoma cancer diagnoses.
A whole part of Nathalie's life – her soccer, her music, even her school work – had suddenly been taken away from her.
But instead of dwelling on her misfortune, Nathalie channeled her energies into other pursuits. She began writing a blog and became her own best advocate, helping her family raise money for her treatment and for sarcoma research.
After the diagnosis, sports, too, became a big part of Nathalie's life.
Because she had played soccer before her diagnosis, Nathalie developed a passion for the Portland Timbers and Portland Thorns FC. She recognized the effort the game required of the players and how hard each and every player on the pitch worked to score a goal. The same feeling she could see on the faces of the players was exactly what she had once loved as a midfielder – the sweat and exertion and feeling of physical exhaustion.
The matches themselves were also something that Nathalie could share with her father, Nathan. Together they would go through all of the rituals that every fan enjoys: the walk up to the stadium, the cheering and hollering (especially for Nathalie's favorite player, Darlington Nagbe), the energy shared after a big play. According to Nathan, Nathalie loved just being a part of this huge collection of people all joined together in support of a single cause.
This past August, Nathalie was on hand to watch the Thorns play their final 2015 regular season match against the Washington Spirit. She sat in the Riveters section, amidst the red smoke and raucous chants, as the two teams swapped goals in a high-scoring 3-3 draw, one of her best friends right at her side.
“That was a great game that she enjoyed,” Nathan Traller recalled. “That was a highlight.”
Earlier this year, the Children's Cancer Association named Nathalie one of its Heroes of 2015. As part of this honor, Nathalie participated in a special photo shoot for her and the other Heroes. One of the photographers had worked on the Timbers Fan/Axe campaign and had brought some of his props along with him.
Nathalie spied some of the prop axes on the table and immediately brightened.
“Oh! Can we do that too?” she asked her photographer.
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In the photo, Nathalie stands tall, tightly gripping a double-headed axe with both hands, a Timbers scarf draped over shoulders. The photo took on a special significance for Nathalie. In the fall, she would participate in a sarcoma walk called the Dragonslayer and the photo represented her most idealized self: calm, tough, capable of taking on the biggest challenge of her life.
“Her picture captured that sort of face that she would need to put on to deal with pain and just fear of fighting cancer and going through scans and hearing about it and all of that,” said Nathan. “She constantly needed to battle so it was pretty easy for her to take on that persona.”
Sadly, Nathalie's long personal battle with ASPS ended in October. The family will hold a memorial service for Nathalie on Thursday.
Nathalie's family, though, has continued the fight on her behalf. The Trallers have connected with researchers at the University of Utah who are investigating ASPS and they've been raising money to help fund those efforts.
This came after a prolonged battle with regulators to allow Nathalie access to clinical research trials for experimental treatments. Because Nathalie was not 18, she would not be allowed to participate and because ASPS is so rare, few drug companies had even begun researching the disease.
“We decided, OK, well we can complain or we can start to plant a tree that will help someone in the future,” said Nathan. “There's a bit of a fund set up right now that's in Nathalie's memory that's continuing that work.”
Nathalie, Nathan says, was a doer and a connector, the kind of person who brightened the lives of the people she came in contact with and who managed to connect with people from all walks of life. She will be missed by those who knew her, but the seeds that she planted may yet bear fruit for other children suffering from ASPS.
Remembrances can be made to the Nathalie Traller Memorial Fund to support the Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah and the fight against ASPS.
