Teen Mom Who Battled Brain Cancer to Give Birth Has Passed Away

Dana Scatton, who was diagnosed with an incurable brain tumor while pregnant, battled the disease to give birth but died only months later.

Dana, 19, welcomed her daughter Aries Marie in January 2018. She was diagnosed with diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma or DIPG, an inoperable brain tumor, in November.

"Dana was an amazing woman who left a lasting impression on everyone she met and knew."

On April 22, the teenage mother has passed away. Her family wrote on Facebook:

"This morning shortly before 4am, Dana left us to be with the lord. We may never have the right things to say to truly honor the amazing, smart, loving, caring, passionate, incredibly beautiful and free spirited mother, daughter, niece, sister, cousin, friend and independent woman Dana was every day.

"She inspired us all to be better than who we are and to keep God in our focus at every moment. She faced the greatest fear of all, death, and smiled back with a grin only God can instill. She fought harder than the toughest warriors known to man and did it with grace and valor.

"We don’t know how to process all of this but we want to thank everyone for all their prayers for Dana and our family. If you have memories of Dana, we’d like you to share them to her page. Dana loved living in the moment and making memories with friends and family and we know she would love to see all the amazing times she’s had with peoples over the years."

On April 25, her family expressed gratitude toward everybody on Facebook "for the outpouring of support over the last few days."

"We very much appreciate all the messages, calls, deliveries, cards, flowers, donations, etc., and are blessed to have such an amazing support system of family and friends," Dana's family added.

"Dana was an amazing woman who left a lasting impression on everyone she met and knew. She inspired so many and continues to do so even after she’s gone on to heaven. We thank God every day for the time we had with her. We wish nothing more than to have more time with her but we know she’s not suffering any more. She’s happy. Right where she wants to be. Right next to God."

When she was diagnosed, Dana was given only three to nine months to live. She may have lived longer than doctors expected with the help of quick treatment.

However, radiation could have hurt her preborn little girl, so she decided to wait as long as she could before starting treatment.

Baby Aries was born by emergency C-section at 33 weeks gestation. Although she fought hard, Dana's wellbeing kept on declining.

From the time of her diagnosis, Dana lived for around 17 months. Her focus the whole time was to beat cancer and be with Aries.