A Fight for Their Lives

My friends Leonard and Maria Salinas are in a battle with one of the most unforgiving of diseases — cancer. Most of us have heard of or had a personal experience with a friend or a loved one fighting cancer, and it is scary. But finding out that a couple that have been together for 22 years and married for 13 are in the fight of their lives is terrifying.

Leonard is a senior deputy probation officer and has worked for the County of Ventura for more than 30 years. His wife, Maria Marquez, has worked in law enforcement for the federal government for 22 years.

Maria has been battling Grave’s disease for several years, and this May, her doctors told her that she has an aggressive form of thyroid cancer. She is currently undergoing treatment.