Chiara Badano was diagnosed with osteosarcoma at the age of 18. An active teenager full of life and aspirations, Chiara hoped to be cured of the cancer and underwent all the standard medical treatments of thirty years ago. But above all she was committed to God's will, and she knew that in the embrace of the crucified Christ, even her suffering was endowed with meaning for the salvation of the world. She offered her powerlessness and pain in union with "Jesus Abandoned," and endured everything with a transfigured joy in the awareness that the mystery of the Cross was at work in her.
Near the end, she said, "I have nothing left except my heart, but with my heart I can still love!"
