UPDATE: Alayna Marie Zalac died Monday, Nov. 17, six days after this story was published.

A funeral mass will be held Friday 11 a.m. at Christ the Redeemer Catholic Church, 2700 Waldon Rd., Lake Orion. The family will receive friends today from 6 to 9 p.m. and tomorrow noon to 8 p.m. at the Modetz Funeral Home, 100 E. Silverbell Rd., Orion. There will be a private family burial. 

The family is asking for friends to bring their favorite photos of Alayna to the visitations, and for donations to be sent to Leader Dogs for the Blind, for the care of the dog recently named in her honor.

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Alayna Zalac is 13 years old. She loves her family, friends and her cat, Angel. She enjoyed biking, swimming and using her diva tendencies and comical antics to entertain — she’s a star at heart, as her friends and family say.

She was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia July 2, 2013, when she was 12.

It’s been a little over a year, and while that year has had some serious ups and downs, Alayna hasn’t let it get to her, and neither has the community that’s lovingly rallied around her.

She’s Lake Orion’s “warrior princess,” something that was evident at the Make-A-Wish party held in her honor Thursday, Nov. 6.

Party for a star

The party, held at Alayna’s home, was mainly outdoors. The quiet suburban street was lined with cars, and people of all shapes and sizes crowded around the heated tents sheltering farm animals. While the day’s weather was gloomy, the party was far from it.

“Alayna always said that she was going to be famous; she wanted to be a movie star or a model,” said Kris Lavin, a second grade teacher that grew close to Alayna and her family after teaching her older sister, Madalyn, seven years ago. “And she loves animals.”

That was the theme for Alayna’s wish: on Monday she went to Detroit Zoo, where she fed some of the animals and took a behind-the-scenes tour. On Thursday, the red carpet was rolled out and Alayna was brought home to paparazzi, a choir’s serenade and an array of even more animals.

“This was all to make her happy,“ Lavin said. “She’s the star of the day.”

’Orion’s little girl’

“Everybody knows the little girl from Lake Orion and her battles,” Lavin said.

Before she was diagnosed, Alayna had planned to take guitar lessons from 14-year-old Jackie Priebe, the older sister of Bryan and daughter of Dawn Priebe, all of whom had been close to Alayna and her family for years. When the Priebes heard of the diagnosis and Alayna could no longer take lessons, they knew their long-time friends would need financial help and decided to step up to the cause.

Jackie, who plans on attending OU for her music when the time comes, organized a benefit concert in September 2013 with over nine hours worth of local musicians and used space donated by the township supervisor. Her goal was to raise $10,000 – she ended up raising $55,000, according to her mother.

When Jackie brought a report of what she had done back to the township, it helped to bring Alayna’s story to the forefront of Lake Orion talk. Community leaders pulled everything they had together to build a more accessible addition to the house at no financial burden to Alayna’s family.

“She’s challenged us to be the best we can be, and I think she’s brought out the best in the entire community,” Dawn said. “Everyone loves her and she’ll live forever through each of us.

“They call her the warrior princess. She’s Orion’s little girl.”

Inspiring strength: Alayna’s story

“It’s been a rollercoaster since July 2, 2013.”

“That’s an understatement.”

That’s what Teri Huff, Alayna’s mother, and Michael Zalac, her father, said.

Alayna was a “very active, typical 12-year-old” that was excited to begin the seventh grade when the diagnosis came. She was scared, but always a tough one, and never let things get to her.

The chemotherapy began immediately, and because of rare reactions to that chemo, Alayna will never walk again. She nearly died from septic shock and suffered many other complications, including severe brain damage and loss of speech capabilities. It’s been hard, but she moves on with her large heart and equally large smile.

After months of this treatment and pain, the doctors finally said the golden words: the cancer was in remission. Alayna came back to the home her community had fixed up for her and began learning to live with the big changes she had experienced.

The family wasn’t expecting the cancer to come back, but after nearly a year, it did. 

They decided together that it would be too much to continue with the chemotherapy. Alayna will soon enter hospice, and Make-A-Wish is only one of the many, many ways the community has gathered even more closely around its princess.

Out of everything that has happened, Zalac said the biggest thing he has taken away from this is that there is no problem too big in comparison to Alayna’s trials.

“It gives you the courage to not complain about little, petty stuff,” Zalac said. “I use Alayna as kind of an inspiration for courage and strength to face my problems in every day life … There’s nothing that can happen to me that could be more difficult than what she’s going through.

“She’s got a million excuses to be pouting and crying all the time and sad and she just — I can make her laugh, and smile, and she lights up when I come in the room.”

Such was the case at Alayna’s party. Boasting a bright pink boa, artfully painted purple nails and a sparkling tiara, the famous warrior princess bonded with animals, posed for pictures and shared her light with all animals and people alike.

Make-A-Wish at OU

“We want to show Alayna how important she is, that she really is a celebrity among her friends,” said Lauren Singer, an M2 student at the Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine. “Alayna is truly a sweet girl and her family has been through a lot since Alayna’s diagnosis.” 

Singer is president of the community service-based Oncology Interest Group, and for the past year or so she has been working with 10 or so other medical students to develop a partnership with Make-A-Wish at OU. Alayna is her fourth “wish kid.”

She and her co-volunteers put together the party as soon as they received the request, and although they didn’t have much time, they received a surprising amount of reaction and help.

Groups that donated time and resources included Buffalo Wild Wings, Home Bakery in Rochester, Busch’s, Party City, Fed Ex and so much more. Different farms and animal organizations brought an alpaca, goat, cow, iguana, rooster, prairie dog, kangaroo and fennec fox, to name just a few. There was free face painting, a free photo booth and free food for all.

“I’m having a blast getting to see the smile on Alayna’s face,” said Mayank Agarwal, a second-year medical student and fellow volunteer. “It’s really heartwarming to see the families and the community come around a kid who just wants to have some fun for a little while.”

Agarwal and Singer said all students are welcome to volunteer whatever and whenever they can, and are encouraged to contact Singer at [email protected].