Amanda

“I’ll be back!” – Amanda

Amanda’s sights were set on playing college softball, her dream since she made the high school varsity team as a freshman. When she started coming home abnormally tired after practice, her family grew worried. Their local pediatrician was concerned with her blood test results, which showed she had anemia, and told them to head to Stanford’s Lucille Packard Children’s Hospital. By the time the evening ended, Amanda was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and her softball dreams were put on hold.

Thankfully, she’s not the type of person who would let that deter her.

“She’s one of those girls that has grit. She’s very self-motivated,” said her mother Theresa. “If she puts her mind to something, she’s going to do it.”

Amanda, now 16 years old, is using that determination to help her beat the disease that’s delayed her athletic aspirations. Amanda underwent chemotherapy for the first time the day she was diagnosed in late December 2016. While they’ve had their share of difficulties throughout, Amanda’s maintained a positive outlook with a strong belief in her family’s faith. Their community has rallied around the family too, encouraging and assisting them whenever possible.

“We had an overwhelming amount of support,” said Theresa. “It just showed how much she’s appreciated and loved by so many people.”

That’s translated into amazing fundraising efforts for their family. A school booster barbecue and softball clinic organized by Amanda’s team as well as a GoFundMe page raised around $25,000 to help cover part of Amanda’s medical expenses. Even people like her softball coach have made it a personal mission to ensure she recovers.

“The day after her diagnosis Amanda’s softball coach came up to visit at Stanford and the doctors were in the room,” said Theresa. “He just told them, ‘Hey, you have my pitcher and you need to fix her.’”

During her fight, Amanda found another athlete to help her through this. She was recently introduced to a girl diagnosed with lymphoma in July who happened to attend her rival school. Amazingly, her mom even found a picture of the two facing off in volleyball the year before. Now, the one-time rivals are great friends.

“It’s so cool they have that commonality and the other night the schools were even playing each other in volleyball again,” said Theresa. “They agreed they were going to meet at the game and they haven’t stopped texting each other since.”

Amanda’s fight will continue and hopefully one day she and her friend will be back on opposite sides of the net, connected by far more than just a volleyball game.