Life is full of challenges. At some point in our lives we are all faced with some type of pain or suffering. Some are small and trivial, while others are large and far-reaching. Joshua J. Marine once wrote, “Challenges are what make life interesting; overcoming them is what makes life meaningful.” 15-year-old Kayla Rae Underwood has already lived a life more meaningful than most.

Coping with a disease like cancer is a grueling and painful ordeal. At Roswell Park, ordinary people face unimaginable challenges everyday and they each have their own way of dealing with adversity. What sets Kayla apart is how she chooses to cope with the disease by confronting it head on.

Kayla was diagnosed with Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia just two months before her eighth birthday. She endured two and a half long years of treatment before finally reaching remission. During that time Kayla became a member of Carly’s Club where she recalls participating in different activities with other kids going through similar situations that helped her cope. “The different activities took my mind off of all of it,” said Kayla. “I remember there was a Halloween party they were having, and my doctors told me I couldn’t go to it. So they brought some of the people from the party up to my room and surprised me.”

By age 10 Kayla and her family had suffered more pain than most families hope to ever know, but this was not the end of the road. In early February, Kayla’s mother was diagnosed with Stage I breast cancer. Her brother, Jordan, suffers from a medulloblastoma brain tumor. Knowing what challenges lay ahead for her family, Kayla and her sister, Leah, were determined to join the fight against cancer yet again.

Kayla has been an active member of Carly’s Club for over five years but this time she and her sister decided to step it up a level. Kayla turned to the members of her school, Pembroke Jr/Sr High School, and encouraged participation in a Goin’ Bald for Bucks fundraiser that raised almost $8,000 for cancer research and patient care programs at Roswell Park. “We wanted to do it in honor of my brother and my mom, and my sister wanted to do it for me. But there are other kids going through the same thing I did, and there are lots of teachers at our school who went through treatment so we wanted to do it for a lot of people,” Kayla said.

As a cancer survivor and crusader Kayla Rae Underwood knows what it takes to fight cancer, and has a new way to focus on her battle. By helping to raise funds and spread awareness Kayla shows that coping is easier when it is a shared experience. “Believe in yourself and know you can do it,” advises Kayla.  This is sound advice we can all regard when faced with a challenge.