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Local 10-year-old girl fighting terminal brain tumor; here's how to support her
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BATON ROUGE - A 10-year-old Baton Rouge girl has been diagnosed with a rare and aggressive form of brain cancer and given months to live.
Athena Gray's health situation began with a severe headache that led to a hospital visit. What followed changed everything for her family.
"At first they were saying, ' Hey, don't worry, this is pretty routine, noncancerous, non-aggressive. Less than 12 hours later they were back in the room saying pack your bags; you're going to Memphis,'" her mom Rebecca Gray said.
Tests at the hospital prompted doctors to put Athena and her mom on a medical flight to Le Bonheur Hospital in Tennessee, where specialists found a tumor on Athena's brain the size of a lemon.
Doctors then delivered the diagnosis and a grim prognosis to the family.
"They said Rebecca, your daughter, is going to die," her mom said.
"To see your child in pain is unimaginable because you can't fix it," she added. "As your mom, parent, that's your job to solve problems."
The family has leaned on their faith through the ordeal.
"I knew God was with us and on our side. Trying to fight every battle with me," Athena said.
Athena and her mom spent weeks in Memphis before recently returning home to Baton Rouge.
"It's so amazing I had missed it so much when I was at St. Jude but I'm gonna miss St. Jude too and the Ronald McDonald House," Athena said.
Because of her illness, Athena can no longer walk upstairs to her bedroom, so her mom brought the bedroom down to her. The family living room is now the home of stuffed frogs, teddy bears, and rubber ducks.
You can support Athena's journey here.
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