Johnston County girl battles stage 4 cancer, community rallies in support

A Johnston County family now faces a long battle to help their 6-year-old daughter overcome a rare cancer. They’re also attracting a lot of community support to help in the cause.

Noelle Franklin loves playing with her Barbie dolls and letting her older brother Christian rock her back and forth on the front porch swing.

Last May, a surprise illness changed the family’s life. Noelle’s mom, Toni Franklin, said, “Prior to then, she was healthy. She had no other symptoms, no fevers, nothing.”

Noelle did develop a swollen bump on her left leg. Later, at Duke Health in Durham, a biopsy revealed bone cancer. “It has moved to both upper left and upper right lungs, so it is considered stage 4,” said Noelle’s mom, Toni.

That news hit the family hard, but they fought back, turning to pediatricians at Duke to save Noelle.

Her dad explained, “Duke. It’s kind of like world-renowned. We’re blessed to, you know, be relatively close to Duke.”

Noelle has already endured several weeks of chemotherapy, to be followed by surgery, with breaks at home, and then more treatments and surgeries.

Meanwhile, friends rallied to help the family. A Facebook page and a GoFundMe campaign created to save Noelle caught the Franklin’s by surprise.

Dylan Franklin was humbled, saying, “You know, we’re not anyone special. We’re just a family, living our daily life and you know, we were struck with the tragedy – but sometimes, with tragedy, you know, comes miracles afterwards.”

The family found that miracle in their daughter.

Noelle’s dad said, “The most encouraging thing is Noelle, she’s pretty strong. She might be small, but she’s definitely strong. She’s probably our number one, you know, reason everything is going to be OK. “

Supporters of the Franklin family’s cause have organized a benefit in Clayton on Saturday, June 1 at Tavern 42, 119 Oleander Drive. It will feature vendors, auctions and plenty of community support.