New River family hopes new stem cell trial will prolong life of teen with ovarian cancer

NEW RIVER, AZ (3TV/CBS 5) - Carmella Tully-Cornell was just nine when she was diagnosed with ovarian and sarcoma cancers. In late April, she’ll turn 14. Her family’s wish for Carmella is to give her a few more years to live. “She’s really shy and reserved. She’s really intelligent. She’s always challenged herself when it came to her grades,” said Carmella’s mother, Jennifer Tully.

Tully and Tony McClellan, Carmella’s stepfather, also said she’s adventurous. For her 13th birthday, Carmella asked to go to Las Vegas. “It was a wild trip. There were moments, ups and downs in that, but that’s how we live with her,” said McClellan.

For the past five years, Carmella has been battling cancer. Her family said she’s had chemotherapy four times and 15 surgeries at Phoenix Children’s. They said she would be good for a while and then relapse. It’s a cycle that was repeated in December of last year. However, chemo is no longer working. “Now we’re just doing damage control basically of what we can do to slow the growth and give her some more time with her family, and we’re actually starting a new cell trial in Columbus, Ohio,” said Tully.

McClellan added, “I pray everyday. My hope is for a miracle that it’s just going to give us more time with her.” Tully said Carmella will start the trial in mid-April. However, they are unsure how long the treatment will be.

If it works, they’re unsure how much time it would buy Carmella. If it doesn’t work, her family plans to travel as much as possible to give her the best days of her life.

Carmella was just accepted for the trial. Her family started a GoFundMe fundraiser to help cover the costs of treatment and housing. If you would like to donate, you can click here.

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