Kayla’s mom, Lisa Corry, describes her as “the happiest girl in South Jersey.” The youngest of four children, Kayla is outgoing, confident, and loves performing on stage as a singer or dancer.
 
When Kayla was five years old, she was attending a dance class and began experiencing intense pain. The pain went away later in the day, and her parents assumed it must have been a pulled muscle from dance. The next day, Kayla’s abdomen hurt and she would not let her parents touch it. She also developed a fever, and her doctor sent the family to the emergency room, where bloodwork and a CAT scan revealed a tumor on her kidney.
 
Kayla was diagnosed with Wilms Tumor, a form of childhood kidney cancer, and admitted to the hospital to begin treatment. The tumor on her kidney had ruptured, and her doctors, worried about bleeding, decided to start with chemotherapy and follow it with a surgery to remove her tumor. The surgery was successful. Kayla’s right kidney was removed, and her remaining kidney looked healthy. The surgery was followed by radiation. Kayla’s treatment concluded and her port was removed a few days before Christmas 2006.
 
Kayla’s mom says that Kayla’s experience has helped to make her “very empathetic toward others who are experiencing trying times, or who merely stand out to be different. She is a supporter to many classmates and has been an inspiration to many of our family, friends and neighbors who are faced with challenges.”
 
Hero’s Quote: “Everybody wants happiness, nobody wants pain, but you can't have a rainbow without any rain.”
 
Information provided by Lisa Corry, Kayla’s mom
March 2013