Pasadena Teen Cancer Survivor Will Ride City of Hope Float, Offer Inspiration

Nine cancer survivors, including 17-year-old Pasadena resident Courtney “Coco” Johnson, will ride on City of Hope’s float during the Rose Parade on January 1, 2022, as they share stories of unwavering belief and perseverance and of how the Southern California-based cancer research and treatment organization provided life-saving therapies.

The float, called ‘Garden of Hopes and Dreams,’ encapsulates this year’s Rose Parade theme, “Dream. Believe. Achieve.” Along with the cancer survivors, leading health care professionals from City of Hope will ride or walk with the parade, a City of Hope statement said.

“COVID-19 created an additional obstacle, but these patients and health care professionals continued an uninterrupted fight against cancer,” the statement read. “Many of the patients chose to share their cancer journey so that others diagnosed with a similar disease do not feel alone. Their commitment to their community is unequaled.”

Coco Johnson was 14 when she was diagnosed with Ewing’s sarcoma, a rare type of bone cancer in 2019. After undergoing oncologic surgery and finishing her last round of chemotherapy, she was welcomed home in March 2020 by friends and neighbors who organized a small socially distanced parade. A video of the parade was posted on YouTube and became viral, and soon she was on “The Ellen Show” on TV.

“I was so overwhelmed and it was just an amazing moment,” Johnson said on the show as she described her feelings when she saw a long line of cars and their neighbors waving and showing “Welcome Home” signs as her parents brought her home.

In December 2020, Johnson received a secondary cancer diagnosis: acute myeloid leukemia, a rare and serious side effect of the chemotherapy she had received. She went through another round of treatment and a subsequent blood stem cell transplant at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles last March. She is continuing to recover.

The other eight cancer survivors who will be on the Rose Parade float are Sandy Shapiro and Krissy Kobata of Los Angeles, Simon Bray of Rossmoor, Maria Flores of West LA, Amanda Salas, Michelle Li of Walnut, Matthew Gatewood of Santa Clarita, and Eddie Ramirez of West Covina.

The 50-foot long and nearly 17-foot-tall City of Hope float, built by Phoenix Decorating Company, will feature animated butterflies, symbolizing hope and transformation, and whimsical mushrooms to punctuate rebirth after a chaotic time, such as the battle these survivors and their health care teams have been fighting, even through the current COVID-19 pandemic.