Kylie's Kids: Meet Avery
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Kemp's gave out ice cream for breakfast on February 18 at the University of Minnesota Masonic Children's Hospital. One of the kids who came down for some vanilla with sprinkles and M&M's was Avery.
This week's Kylie's Kid not only has a big appetite for ice cream, but some big ideas on life that inspire everyone she meets.
Between bites of ice cream, Avery told Kylie about her "big brother," and the things she loves to do.
"I have a dog brother. My mom and dad bought Chopper before I was even born," she said. "Paint, coloring, I like to dance to many songs."
But what's most impressive about Avery, rhymes with her name.
"Bravery rhymes with Avery," Avery said. "At the other clinic, I was so brave, so brave, they gave me a 'Number One Bravery Trophy.'"
Avery has been fighting T-cell leukemia since she was 2-years-old. After three and a half years of treatment, Avery relapsed last year.
"It was a very, very difficult time," Avery's father Reggie said. "I call her the Bronx Brawler because she's a fighter. She's a fighter man, I'll tell you."
The next option was a bone marrow transplant at the University of Minnesota.
"This medicine, I really don't like, but I've got to take it," Avery said.
If Avery sounds a little wiser than your average 7-year-old, it's probably because she is.
"She's had to engage with a lot of adults and had to follow a lot of instructions," Reggie said. "So she's kind of found her personality in the balance between medical professionals and her little friends at school."
With that balance comes more strength than most adults.
"She's many, many times the strongest one in the room," Reggie said.
Also, it helps to have an unwavering determination to fight cancer.
"To survive cancer, you have to take many pills and many different medicines that you cannot like but you want to get better," Avery said. "So you have to take them."
Avery is in remission, but she still has a year and a half left of monitoring her bloodwork after the transplant.
