Civil society group Repubblika also offered their heartfelt condolences to Rebecca’s parents as they shared a photo of the teenager at a protest calling for justice for Daphne Caruana Galizia.

Cartoonist Gorg Mallia recounted how he got to know ‘Becs’ virtually over the past year.

“[She was] a young girl with an indomitable spirit personified, talented, an artist, a dancer, courageous to the extreme, still smiley in spite of adversity… a girl with all the characteristics of a fictional superhero,” he said. “Only she was real… a fighter, a wonderful symbol of humanity in the face of overwhelming odds. And now she is gone from this world.”

Rebecca, a Maltese student and dance fanatic, was diagnosed with Ewing’s Sarcoma in October 2019 and underwent multiple rounds of radiotherapy as she bravely battled the rare form of bone cancer.

Last September, her father, photographer Darrin Zammit Lupi, wrote an emotional piece for Reuters about his daughter’s experience, which coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic.

“These past months, one of the things which helped keep me going through what’s undoubtedly the hardest time of my life, was documenting the experience. Here’s the finished work, though the rough times for all the family are far from over,” Darrin wrote on Facebook at the time.

A Facebook group, Rebecca Superhero and Her Friends, was also set up for people to brighten Rebecca’s days by sending her messages, pictures and videos, including this video prepared by Maria Sant Fournier, one of her teachers at St Michael’s Foundation.

Cover photo: Darrin Zamit Lupi (Reuters)

RIP Rebecca