Valentina Olivares was 15 when doctors at Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital told her she had a rare type of B lymphoma affecting her central nervous system, the start of a grueling, years-long fight that included weekly chemotherapy, a relapse, and an out-of-state trip for advanced cell therapy. Three years later, she is on the road to recovery.
Olivares' diagnosis came at Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital in Hollywood, Florida, according to CBS News Miami. Her illness, central nervous system lymphoma, is an aggressive and rare form of non-Hodgkin lymphoma that strikes roughly 1,500 patients nationwide each year, according to Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital. Weekly outpatient chemotherapy wasn't enough to keep the disease at bay. After a relapse, Olivares had to travel out of state for CAR-T cell therapy, a specialized immunotherapy treatment, per the hospital's account. According to a U.S. Food and Drug Administration summary dated November 7, 2024, approved CAR T-cell products included treatments for leukemia and relapsed or refractory aggressive mature B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma, though those approvals do not establish that every central nervous system lymphoma is an approved indication.
A Concert Gift From an NFL Star
Somewhere in the middle of that ordeal, Miami Dolphins tight end Durham Smythe stepped in. Olivares had been set to attend a Taylor Swift Eras Tour show in Tampa, but a sudden treatment-related fever forced her to skip it in order to protect her compromised immune system. Smythe personally gifted her tickets to Swift's Miami show instead, making it her very first live concert, the hospital's account notes.
That connection to Swift deepened the following year. The pop star made a surprise visit to Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital while in South Florida before appearing at Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final at Amerant Bank Arena, and Olivares was among the patients she met, according to footage of the visit. Hoodline reported on Swift's hospital stop at the time, which brought a lift to pediatric patients and staff alike.
Three Years Later
Three years after her diagnosis, Olivares was on the road to recovery. A 2020 study in the Canadian Oncology Nursing Journal, led by University of Alberta researchers, found the ritual helps patients regain a sense of personal agency and closure while building community among families and clinical staff.
Olivares' recovery follows the broader pattern seen in pediatric non-Hodgkin lymphoma: the National Cancer Institute puts the overall 5-year relative survival rate for children and adolescents under 20 diagnosed with the disease at around 90%, though rare subtypes affecting the brain or spinal cord present distinct clinical hurdles that depend on specialized care. According to the National Cancer Institute, the 5-year survival rate for children diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma was 91.4% in 2014–2020, although that overall figure does not describe outcomes for rare central nervous system subtypes. Now fully recovered, Olivares has enrolled at Broward College to pursue a degree in accounting, according to the hospital.
A Hospital Built for Complex Cases
Her treatment took place at a facility that has significantly expanded its pediatric specialty capacity in recent years. Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital completed a $166 million vertical expansion in November 2022, doubling the Hollywood facility to eight floors and nearly 400,000 square feet, adding four play-themed floors along with specialized pediatric cardiac and surgical suites, as reported by CBS News Miami at the time of the project's unveiling. A Florida Agency for Health Care Administration report identifies Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital as a 204-bed facility on the campus of Memorial Regional.
That growth has been backed by sustained philanthropic support for cancer care. The Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital Foundation received a $100,000 Impact Grant from Hyundai Hope on Wheels in June, bringing the nonprofit's total lifetime giving to the facility's pediatric oncology navigation and research programs to more than $1.55 million, according to the Florida Hospital News and Healthcare Report. Those grants help fund nurse navigators who guide young cancer patients and their families through years of treatment.
The support Olivares received also fits a wider pattern of community partnerships built around the hospital's young patients. Hospitalized kids there have flown to the North Pole each holiday season through a Miami Dolphins and United Airlines partnership at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, part of a regional effort by local sports organizations and corporations to bring emotional support to families during extended medical stays.
