Rare Form Of Breast Cancer Claims Life Of Former LA Angels Cheerleader, 27
ALISO VIEJO (CBS) — A former Los Angeles Angels cheerleader and high school coach has died of a rare and aggressive form of breast cancer at her Aliso Viejo home, The Orange County Register reported Sunday.
Garden Grove native Heather Beyer, 27, was a member of the Angels' Strike Force Spirit Squad in 2007.
She reportedly went on to coach the cheerleading team at Newport Harbor High School from 2004 to 2008. She began coaching at Tesoro High School in 2009, the same year she married Nate Beyer, a deputy in the Orange Count Sheriff's Department.
They were engaged at Disneyland and married in July 2009, with nine cheerleaders serving as her bridesmaids, the newspaper reported.
In February 2010, Beyer was diagnosed with Stage 4 breast cancer, the newspaper reported. It was six months after she felt a lump on her breast.
Beyer left the hospital on April 15 for hospice care, spending her last days surrounded by family and friends, as well as getting "Hallelujah" tattooed on her wrist and attending an Angels game.
She died Saturday afternoon.
The Orange County Register reported she attended Saddleback College and earned a journalism degree at Long Beach State.
Beyer is survived by her husband Nate; parents Marc and Kari Hoefnagels and Margaret and Bill Thompson; and nine brothers and sisters. Funeral arraignments were pending.
The Orange County Register reported that Beyer's friends have been raising American Cancer Society's Relay for Life contributions in her honor.
(©2011 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Wire services contributed to this report.)
