Facing Illness, Teenager Inspires Islanders to ‘Run for Hope’
Published 1:30 am Thursday, August 5, 2021
By Lila Cohen
For The Beachcomber
In 2020, Maarten Ribalet-Coesel made history when she became one of Vashon’s first youth unofficial mayors.
She was elected alongside three of her friends on behalf of Sisterhood, a Vashon organization committed to supporting the social and emotional health and development of local girls and female-identifying students, like Ribalet-Coesel.
Now 13 years old, she is a rising seventh-grade student, a lover of music, dance, and opera and is interested in pursuing journalism. Those who know her describe her as a joyful, bright, funny, optimistic person who has an innate ability to make everyone around her smile.
Although however bright and shiny she is, Ribalet-Coesel has fought battles that most will never have to.
When she was three months old, it was discovered that she had a tumor growing in her brain. Her parents, Sacha Coesel and Francois Ribalet, who were then living in Seattle, sought treatment for their daughter both in Seattle and Boston, the latter of which at the time had one of the only medical facilities in the world that was equipped for the specific radiation therapy needed. After treatment, it took Maarten years to recover from the journey she endured to defeat cancer.
At age four, Maarten and her family found their new home on Vashon and began to settle into their lives on the island. However, when Maarten was nine, her team of doctors discovered that the tumor was back. She battled cancer and made a recovery, once again.
Just weeks ago, Maarten and her family received the same distressing news: her cancer has returned. It has become clear that this tumor is recurring, and as Maarten gets older, she is beginning to enter uncharted medical territory.
“We all feel like what we really need now are new solutions,” Sacha said.
To help fund these new solutions, Ribalet-Coesel and her family are doubling down on their effort to raise money for Run of Hope Seattle 2021. Run of Hope is an annual 5k walk/run to raise funds for Pediatric Brain Tumor Research at Seattle Children’s Hospital.
This year, it takes place from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 26, and due to COVID-19, it will take place at Seward Park and virtually. Team Maarten has participated in past years, but this time around they are making an extra effort to raise as much as they can. This year, the team has set their goal for $20,000 — far exceeding their previous goals. Currently, they have raised over $8,000, and are in first place in the race to raise the most money for the cause.
As their efforts have grown, so has the size of their team. Others have begun to take on the cause — to fight for this research and Maarten. Among those are Chautauqua Elementary school teachers, Aristy Gill and Margie Butcher.
Gill has known Maarten since she was three years old, where they met through La Petite Etoile French School, where Gill was her preschool teacher. Gill was also Maarten’s multiage teacher at Chautauqua, where they shared the classroom together for another three years. She described her student as a “passionate, proud, and persistent” person.
Butcher, who was introduced to Maarten and her family through Sisterhood, also has high praise for her.
“Maarten is a powerhouse, has an amazing sense of humor… [is] a strong leader, and knows who she is, and no one can get in her way. She has inspired me so much…to laugh more, to not be afraid to speak my truth,” Butcher said.
Butcher is not the only one who Maarten has inspired with her openness to share her story. Her mother also admires her strength.
“I think Maarten is very brave,” Sacha said. “Always, always has been very brave. I think sometimes when people think about strong or brave people [as] people who look very strong or, you know, physically fierce — but sometimes the strongest people can look very delicate, slender but are actually very strong on the inside. And I think Maarten is an example of that. One of her strengths is [the way she is] so easy in sharing her story.”
Maarten has been very public in her journey as a cancer survivor and a member of the LGBTQ+ community. She acknowledges how the Vashon community has supported her when she speaks up.
“What I feel is so special about Vashon is that it is a very open community,” she said. “With me being queer — it’s like I don’t mind being queer in this community because you know a lot of people here are in the ‘so called’ category of being different… I own my different-ness here more than in other places… Here, I don’t mind being myself.”
In addition to running on behalf of Team Maarten, Butcher and Gill have teamed up to organize their own fundraiser, “Songs of Hope”. Songs of Hope is an outdoor opera and chamber music event featuring an array of Vashon’s top classical musicians and singers. It will be held at a private Vashon residence on Saturday, Aug. 28.
Though tickets are limited for the concert, all are welcome at the Run of Hope — and Maarten said she had been humbled by the response to the fundraising effort.
“The crazy thing [about] this year is that we were looking through the donations [of] some people we don’t even know personally,” she said. “I feel kind of honored in a way that these people I don’t even know are willing to help me through this journey.”
Sacha echoed her daughter, also mentioning the sense of community the support has brought.
“It makes you feel like you’re not alone,” she said.
Maarten added that anything and everything helps support the cause.
“Whatever you can do is helpful enough,” she said. “Do whatever you can. If you can only give $5 [or] if you can give $500, either is fine. If you can join the team, if you can’t join the team on that particular day, it’s fine … donate all you can. The more money we can get the more possibility we can defeat this thing … just do whatever you can to spread awareness and fund Seattle Children’s Pediatric Brain Cancer Research.”
Team Maarten is calling on Vashon to show up for Maarten and other pediatric brain tumor survivors. The need is real, and the time is now. According to The Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation, more than 28,000 children and teenagers in the United States are living with the diagnosis of a primary brain tumor.
On Vashon, it just so happens that one of those 28,000 children is an invaluable member of our community.
But Maarten is calling on all to donate to support everyone this cause will benefit.
“… Only 4% of cancer funding goes to pediatric cancer research,” she said. “So I feel like Run of Hope is very important because it is something to gather money for this particular cause that doesn’t receive as much attention as some other research. So I feel coming together as one big Vashon community, I feel we can raise enough money to help this cause… You don’t have to know me, if you feel this is a cause worth fighting for, just come.”
Butcher, Maarten’s mentor at Sisterhood, said she is counting on islanders to show up in droves to support Maarten.
“The Vashon community’s superpower is to get behind people and causes we believe in. I think together we will come out in huge numbers at the actual event, and show Maarten how much she means to us,” she said.
‘Songs of Hope’ will support crucial research
An all-star concert by local opera and chamber music talent will take place at 3:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 28, outdoors at a private residence, to raise money for pediatric brain cancer research to support the recovery of Maarten Ribalet-Coesel and others like her.
Performers will include sopranos Jennifer Krikawa, Mackenzie Taylor and Holly Boaz; baritone Hugh Davis; and mezzo-soprano Lucy Weber. Musicians will include violinist Karin Choo; cellist Rowena Hammill and pianists Christopher Overstreet, Linda Lee and Evan Stults. There will also be special appearances by cellist Annie Roberts; classical guitarist Stephen Buffington; violinist Kim Thal and vocalist Rebekah Kuzma.
To find out more and to purchase tickets, which range in price from $100 to $1000, visit https://m.bpt.me/event/5184088
Click here to learn more, join and donate to Team Maarten Run of Hope 2021.
