Katlyn T

Katlyn and her twin sister were born three months early. Two years later, doctors discovered a large brain tumor in Katlyn's head. She had surgery to remove it, and recovered beautifully but was left with a plate in the back of her head where her skull once was.

Though that would be more than enough trauma, fear and worry for a family to go through in a lifetime, Katlyn's family hadn't seen the end of it. In the second grade Katlyn was diagnosed with Leukemia. In her small Kansas town, Katlyn stood out after months getting chemotherapy; she wore a green surgical mask over her mouth and nose and she had short bristles of dark hair just slowly growing back. In the second grade it's hard to keep a happy tone in your voice when kids are treating you differently, but Katlyn did.

Now, though, nearly eight years later, Katlyn is a five-foot-tall hero. She never uses her former problems as a buffer in an attempt to make her life easier. In fact, if you didn't know her story, you wouldn't ever think that the athletic, intelligent, and happy girl you see today ever had anything but the most normal, thriving of all childhoods.

She is my best friend, and secretly one of my heroes.

Submitted by Anonymous

Courage