Family, friends remember Hanks grad who died of leukemia

Monday night, friends and family of Meagan Blanco gathered to remember the recent Hanks High School graduate.

She died over the weekend of leukemia.

Blanco’s loved ones packed the Crestview Funeral Home wearing orange, the color designated for leukemia awareness.

Blanco’s family said she was an extraordinary girl who was a straight A student who was in the marching band and dance team.

Hanks students were so moved by her tenacious fight against cancer, they came up with a phrase to show their support: “knights don’t fight alone.”

“She never let it bring her down. She stayed positive. She didn’t look at the negative,” a friend of Blanco’s said.

“Her spirit was…you just wanted to hug her every time you saw her. She was a very sweet person, a sweet soul,” said Sal Nigro, Blanco’s godfather.

Nigro said she was diagnosed last September and was set to go to San Antonio for a bone marrow transplant when her health took a turn for the worse.