Keondia Woodley

As a freshman cheerleader at Elkhart Memorial High School, Keondia Woodley-“Keekee” to her family at home in Granger, Ind.,-has been working hard to perfect the challenging new routines and polish her back handsprings. Gym is the 14-year-old’s favorite class. Running, however, brings back some memories she’d rather forget.

Keondia was 11 and just starting sixth grade when her muscles began to ache during tryouts for her elementary school track team. Despite her doctor’s care, the symptoms became worse-inflamed lymph nodes, stomach problems and bruising. Eventually, the family physician ordered blood tests. Keondia’s father, Frank, president of the school’s booster club, was getting ready for a Friday night football game when he and his wife Teresa got the call to take their daughter to the hospital-immediately. Keondia was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia on August 22, 2008.

“It knocks you back on your heels real quick,” Frank says. The couple had to make arrangements for three foster children in their home and Keondia’s older sister Kassandra, who had just started her senior year in high school. Once in the car, Frank robotically followed directions to the hospital, not even realizing until he was on US 31 that he was heading to Indianapolis and Riley Hospital for Children at IU Health.

Her mother Teresa stayed with Keondia during her chemotherapy over the next eight months, while her father, sister, grandmother and best friend Hannah visited as often as they could. Her hometown of Granger held fundraisers to help with expenses. “You’re blessed when people try to help you,” Frank says. In response, Keondia used photos to share her Riley journey with friends and supporters. In seventh and eighth grade, she appeared on posters at her school to promote Pennies for Patients, a campaign to benefit the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

“I got sick a lot of times,” she says. “But Riley’s a terrific hospital. They took great care of me, and my nurses were the best nurses ever.”

Today, Keondia is settling in to high school and enjoying time with her friends and family. “I’m really energetic now, she says. “It’s a lot better than it used to be.”

Frank describes their daughter as friendly, kind and a little stubborn-a trait he believes served her well during her illness. “Her strength, her believing in God, and her being willing to fight-she was so small, and she put up such a big fight. She’s shown other people: ‘If I can deal with it, then you can too - I’m giving you that challenge.”