CHOC Walk Ambassador

Introducing Belle - Our 2025 CHOC Walk Ambassador

In September 2024, Belle Wuich rang the bell on the fifth floor of Children’s Hospital of Orange County (CHOC), part of Rady Children’s Health. It was the milestone and moment that each cancer patient strives for: as the tone rang out, it signified she had completed her cancer treatment. This year, Belle adds a new role to her post-cancer life: she’s the 2025 CHOC Walk Ambassador.
 
Belle’s first CHOC Walk in the Park happened in 2010, when she was two years old. Fast-forward to 2023, four months after her cancer diagnosis, she formed her “Belle’s Brigade” team for the Walk.
 
“A cancer diagnosis turns life upside down,” says Trish, Belle’s mom. “It’s a domino that starts a chain of events that touches every area of your life and is an emotional roller coaster for the whole family.” They took the journey one day at a time.
 


         

"I can't imagine what my journey would've been like at any other hospital."

Over the course of her 17-month treatment for neuroblastoma, a type of cancer that starts in early nerve cells called neuroblasts and form solid tumors, Belle missed her entire freshman year of high school. She had 18 rounds of chemotherapy and immunotherapy, 20 radiation treatments and two major surgeries. Today, she continues weekly physical therapy treatments at CHOC’s Rehabilitation Center.
 
“I can’t imagine what my journey would’ve been like at any other hospital,” says Belle.  “I’ve been profoundly changed and impacted by all of the incredible CHOC staff members who have become part of my family.”
 
Belle advocates for CHOC and is actively involved in the philanthropically funded Richard C. and Virginia A. Hunsaker Adolescent and Young Adult Child Life Cancer Program, which connects pediatric cancer patients through their shared experiences.
 
Belle calls her cancer journey a wild ride, but she stays focused on the positive and continues to make the best of what life brings her way. She’s looking forward to lacing up her walking shoes for CHOC Walk and sharing hope and joy on that day.


    

-The Wuich Family: Briklyn, Trish, Belle & Hudson