A Family's Mission After Losing Their 5-Year-Old to Cancer Helps Build Powerful New Friendships (Exclusive)
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10/15/2024 02:51 PM
Mom LaToya Johnson forged a lasting bond with Diane Nares, whose pain over losing a son to pediatric cancer inspired her and her husband to help others
Sandy Huffaker for People Magazine
(L-R) Diane Nares, founder of the Emilio Nares Foundation, with Yuntashi and LaToya Johnson in July 2024- LaToya Johnson first met Diane Nares when Johnson's daughter received her first cancer diagnosis in 2007
- Over the past 21 years, the Emilio Nares Foundation has helped over 11,000 families, providing them with free rides to appointments, snack bags after chemotherapy as well as support with housing and more
- "They will always be more than just a ride," LaToya tells PEOPLE
LaToya Johnson's daughter Yuntasha was just 5 when she received her first cancer diagnosis in 2007.
LaToya, a single mom living in California, didn't have a car at the time, and getting to Rady Children's Hospital-San Diego for her daughter's neuroblastoma treatments required an "extraordinary, dragged-out bus ride," she tells PEOPLE.
For months they commuted up to three hours each way, until LaToya spotted a flyer for the Emilio Nares Foundation (ENF) at the hospital. She marveled at what the group promised: transportation to and from treatment — and "we don't have to pay for anything," LaToya says.
Years later, as Yuntasha endured a "roller coaster" of treatments after being diagnosed with stage 4 glioma in her brain in 2016, LaToya developed a tight bond with co-founder Diane Nares, whose pain over losing son Emilio to pediatric cancer inspired her and husband Richard Nares to start the nonprofit.
The Johnsons are among the 11,000-plus families ENF has helped over the past 21 years, providing them with not just free rides and snack bags after chemotherapy but also support with housing and more.
"They have literally seen my children grow from car seats to grown women," says LaToya, 41, mom to Yuntasha, 23, and 19-year-old daughter Yasmyn.
Diane considers these relationships another way of marking the group's success. "The beautiful conversations and the friendships," she says, "I will treasure for the rest of my life."
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The foundation was initially born of heartbreak. Little Emilio was a late-in-life arrival for his parents, and their "great joy," says Diane, 72.
"When he was diagnosed at 3 years old, that's when everything took a turn," she says.
Emilio, their only child, died of leukemia two years later, in the arms of his mom and dad.
"It is such an injustice that children get cancer," Diane says. "So when we came out of this situation, we knew we had a purpose."
At first Richard, now 72, used his own car to ferry other parents and kids to their appointments. "We witnessed so many families who did not have the support we had," explains Diane, who is retired from the restaurant industry.They officially started ENF in 2003, three years after their son's death, and purchased their first 15-seat van. They now provide 4,000 trips to more than 200 patients annually.
"We knew the day-in, day-out needs would be what we could really assist with," Diane says, "so that's how it all began."
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LaToya says that Diane's dedication also helped her advocate for her daughter throughout Yuntasha's medical journey.
"She's taken such a wonderful blessing that was mixed with a tragedy, and she turned it back into a blessing," says LaToya. "If she can do this and her child is not here, then why can't I?"
"Sometimes we have to be the force for those who can't be that force for themselves. That's what she taught me," adds LaToya, who is now a full-time caregiver to Yuntasha, whose lengthy health struggles have impaired some neurological functions
Adds the mom, "I told her one day, 'God put us together for a reason.' "
Diane — who published a memoir in 2023, His Place at the Table, about her son — says she dreams of expanding ENF from San Diego, Orange County and some surrounding areas into Los Angeles. As for LaToya, the foundation's legacy goes beyond its many acts of kindness.
"Having that connection — to me that's what makes a family strong, whether it is a bloodline or not," she says. "They will always be more than just a ride."
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