Merced girl with leukemia will get wish to meet ‘Weird Al’ Yankovic

Mina Lopez, a 14-year-old Merced girl, thought on Tuesday that she and her teacher were headed to the library for her lessons. She didn’t expect to be surprised by her friends and told she’d get to meet one of her favorite music artists, “Weird Al” Yankovic.

“I was confused. Why were a whole bunch of people in the library?” Lopez said after the surprise.

The surprise was made possible by the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Central California. Make-A-Wish, through funding from the Fresno Foundation, grants the wishes of children under 18 who have life-threatening illnesses.

Lopez and her mother will ride to San Francisco in a limo on Friday, meet Yankovic on Saturday and receive a tour of San Francisco on Sunday.

Lopez was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia in July 2015. She underwent intensive chemotherapy treatments, and her current treatment includes lumbar punctures and steroid treatments.

Lopez, a soft-spoken girl whose dark hair is colored purple, said she chose to meet Yankovic because she’s been listening to his music since “before I was born.” Her favorite song by the artist is “White and Nerdy,” a play on Chamillionaire’s song “Ridin’.”

“We’re oddballs,” said her mother, Melissa Rocha. “We’ve both gravitated to him (Yankovic) all our life. He’s made a career by being not like other people. We see him be accepted and feel like we might be accepted.”

Rocha – who, similar to her daughter, has teal streaks in her hair – said she kept her cassette tapes in a hat box, and Mina, when she was just 3 years old, would ask to listen to them. “She played them constantly as a kid,” Rocha said.

Organizers with Make-A-Wish and Lopez’s teachers and fellow classmates put on a party in the east campus library for her surprise, decorating the library with posters, bringing snacks and gifts, and even inviting local elected officials.

Kevin Blake, Merced’s mayor pro-tem, presented Lopez with a certificate for “being a hero for us all.”

“I heard you’re a big deal,” Blake said. “Your classmates and adults alike should strive to be like you.”

Stephanie Vigil, Lopez’s independent study teacher, said Lopez always has a smile on her face.

“I can’t even begin to understand what she goes through on a daily basis,” Vigil said. “I admire her strength.”

Make-A-Wish is working on granting 22 wishes this year to children in Merced County and Chowchilla, said Cora Gonzalez, a volunteer with the organization.

This story was originally published January 17, 2017 at 3:54 PM with the headline "Merced girl with leukemia will get wish to meet ‘Weird Al’ Yankovic."