12-Year-Old Cancer Survivor Raises Funds for St. Jude

A young girl who beat cancer is making sure other families get the same chance she did.

Lily Baker was just three years old when doctors diagnosed her with leukemia. She spent the next three years undergoing chemotherapy at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis.

On October 10, Lily will celebrate a milestone that once seemed impossible: six years cancer-free. She'll be 12 years old.

To mark the occasion, Lily and her family organized a pumpkin-painting fundraiser at Mae's To-Go Cup in Tupelo, Mississippi. The event brought together friends, family, and supporters to raise money for St. Jude.

"At three years old I was diagnosed with leukemia, and at six years old I was free," Lily said. "They never made my family pay a dollar, so that's why we're doing this."

St. Jude's policy of never billing families allowed Lily's mother, Nicole Wray, to focus on what mattered most during those difficult years. She didn't have to choose between being present for her daughter and worrying about mounting medical bills.

"When you have a child with cancer, the last thing you can focus on is money," Wray said. "If it wasn't for St. Jude, I wouldn't have been able to have focused on my daughter and just spending time with her and being with her."

Sunny's Take

Even during treatment, Lily found reasons to smile. She remembers being happy despite everything her small body was going through.

"Every day there was just, even though I had leukemia, I was still really happy," Lily said. Photos from that time show her giggling and playing, a little girl determined to find joy.

Now she wants other families to have the same support system that carried her through. The pumpkin-painting event raised funds to help St. Jude continue providing free treatment to children battling cancer and other life-threatening diseases.

For Lily's family, the fundraiser represents both gratitude and hope: gratitude for the care they received, and hope that other families will experience the same miracle they did.

Six years cancer-free is worth celebrating, and Lily chose to celebrate by giving back.