The first pediatric patient , admitted to the Hospice of the Chesapeake's in-patient care center in Pasadena, died on Thursday.

Journey Butler, 13years old died around 2:28 AM on Thursday at her family's Prince George's County home.

Butler was admitted to the Hospice's in-patient care center two weeks ago, at its John and Cathy Belcher Campus in Pasadena . She was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer in February.

As the doctors have already informed that her death is about to happen in recent days, her family decided to discharge her from the hospital and brought her home. Her mother, Camille Butler said,  "we thought it would be better if she was here in the comfort of her own home with friends and family,"

Journey appeared to be the subject of a feature article in last Thursday's Capital. Since then, several readers reached out to the newspaper and offered gifts and words of encouragement to the family.

The 13 years old Journey’s mother thanked the community for the supports during Journey's struggle with life. She said, “for the love and support we've gotten from the community ... it's been so much it's hard to put into words.”

After the death of Journey Butler, her family was grateful for the time they had with her. Her mother said, “we feel blessed that God allowed us those 13 years. I have to believe she served a greater purpose and that there was a greater need for her someplace else."

She had three siblings, ages 11, 15 and 20.

The family planned to have the teen's body cremated. As of Thursday afternoon, they were still arranging a memorial service near the family's home in Adelphi. According to the website for the National Center for Biotechnology Information, Journey suffered from renal medullary carcinoma , a cancer which affects on kidneys. The disease was exclusively found in young African-Americans, many with the sickle cell trait. Journey shared this trait with her mother.

By Prakriti Neogi