Shyann Nicole Barnes

It is with great sadness that Shyann Nicole Barnes, age 11, of Dinwiddie, VA, passed away on September 26, 2024, after a long battle with Rhabdomyosarcoma child cancer. She is survived by her loving mother, Elizabeth Barnes; stepfather, Nicholas Basile; two half-brothers, Riley Basile and Elijah Smith; one half-sister, Hayden; two uncles, Donald and William Barnes; and aunts, Kristina Bernard, Kaitlin Bernard, and Aly Bernard. She is also survived by a close family of three grandmothers, Maryann Back, Pamela Basile, and Virginia Green; as well as uncles, Sean Basile, Howard Campbell, and Corey Back; and aunts, Jessica Clark, Eden Conques, Stephanie Back, and Alecia Basile. In addition, many cousins, including Rebecca Cooke, Emmeline Barnes, Charles Barnes, Raelyn Barnes, Jace Barnes, Noah Barnes, Annabelle Clark, and Aurie Basile, survive her.

Shyann was a happy, high spirited, intelligent little girl, who made honor roll in school and loved to play with her friends. In March of 2023, she was diagnosed with a rare children's cancer called Rhabdomyosarcoma that limited Shyann on what she could do. Things such as riding her bike, swimming, and even walking became difficult for her.

She spent a lot of time at the hospital through her difficult journey. Everyone at the Children's Hospital (CHoR) became Shyann's friends and she quickly became an inspiration to everyone that got to know her. She was always asking questions and learned so much in regard to her care, how different medications work, wounds, prevention, and more. She was able to assist the nurses and doctors with some of her procedures and care. She was loved by all her nurses, doctors, and other staff. She discovered many hobbies through her trials, such as making bracelets, painting, writing songs, singing, watching anime, and playing lots of fun games... particularly lots and lots of Uno and enjoyed them with her family, friends and hospital staff. Her newly found passion for music and art touched all who knew her.

To keep up with her education, teachers from her school offered to come to our home when she was not in the hospital and even did virtual sessions while she was inpatient to make sure she could continue her lessons. She was able to complete the 4th grade and moved on to the 5th. The 5th was a bit of a struggle but she quickly grasped all of the concepts and lessons thanks to Mrs. Cox and she was able to successfully complete the 5th grade and was in full remission. As the 6th grade school year was approaching, a tumor appeared and was treated. When it was time for school to start, all seemed well, but Shyann was still worn down and recovering. She requested to go to school in-person so that she can be more active and recover faster. Little did we know, the cancer had come back again and aggressively. Within no time, while she was going to school and trying to be more active, she was already down to about 30% lung capacity, as the tumors reappeared in her right lung unknowingly. After some issues that kept her out of school, the newly spreading cancer was discovered. She was only able to go to school in-person for 5 days (with no complaints) and was upset when receiving the bad news that she didn't have much longer with us that she couldn't continue going back to school. The cancerous mass had spread and not only replaced most of where her right lung was supposed to be, but also had wrapped itself around her trachea and beyond, stretching and pushing everything out of place. Unfortunately, there was nothing that could be done to treat it or slow it down. In her last days, we made some wishes come true, including recording her song that she wrote.

On September 26th, at 5:12am, Shyann passed away peacefully with her mother and stepfather by her side. We will always cherish the time we had with her and will always carry her memory in our hearts along with all the many others whose lives she touched during her journey.

The family will receive friends on Wednesday, October 2, 2024, from 6:00 PM until 8:00 PM, at J.T. Morriss & Son Funeral Home - Hopewell Chapel, 820 W. Broadway Avenue, Hopewell, VA 23860. A graveside service will be held on Thursday, October 3, 2024, at 11:00 AM, at Sunset Memorial Park, 2901 W. Hundred Road, Chester, VA 23831. The family requests that anyone who wishes to send flowers to please reach out to Susan Cheek at With Love Flowers.