Kylie's Kid: Kimberly's Love Of Play May Have Saved Her Life

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – Many know, the later cancer is found the harder it can be to fight. But finding it isn't always easy.

For Kylie's Kid Kimberly it happened by accident on New Year's Eve.

"She's a really energetic kid and happy all the time," Billy Welch, Kimberly's dad, said. "Very respectful. She's kind of shy."

Kimberly is the youngest of five kids, which is maybe why she seems a little older than 2-years-old.

"People think she's a lot older than what she really is," Billy said.

But with her family that silly side definitely comes out.

"She loves everything. She loves dancing, she loves art, she loves playing with Barbies," Billy said.

That love for playing just might have saved her life.

"I was playing with her on New Year's night," Billy said. "She slid down my arms and my hand went in her belly, and I felt something hard in her belly. It felt like the size of a deck of cards."

Billy brought her to the emergency room.

"I panicked. I didn't know what was going on and I needed answers soon, like right away," Billy said.

They learned she had an aggressive tumor on her liver.

"I kind of felt a little bit hopeless and shocked that it's something that's happening to us," Billy said. "She never had any other medical issues or anything. The kid never even got sick."

But thanks to Kimberly and dad's play time, they caught it early.

"We were able to find it quick enough that it didn't spread anywhere else," Billy said.

Kimberly's already had a liver transplant and is now undergoing chemotherapy.

"She doesn't really think too much about it. She just goes with the flow and is doing really good," Billy said.

She's even doing better than doctors expected.

"She's doing great; she's recovering really well," Billy said. "It was projected that she'd have to stay about three weeks after transplant and she only had to stay 10 days."

Kimberly still has six months of chemo to go.

Her dad has had to change his work schedule from days to nights in order to help care for Kimberly and pay for her hospital bills. To help donate to Kimberly's medical expenses, visit her Go Fund Me page.