Making Her Own Odds.
Strong-willed. Steadfast. Spirited. Gifted.
“They thought she wasn’t going to be able to walk. They didn’t think she’d survive,” said Kentleigh’s High School cheerleading coach Amy Dodson. “It’s just amazing. How easy would it have been for [her family] to say, ‘Well, the doctors said…’ But they never accepted that for themselves or for Kentleigh.”
Born with an inoperable large hard tumor wrapped around her organs, Kentleigh Nichols began chemo at just six weeks old. Her cancer recurred when she was two years old. Doctors didn’t think she would survive, let along walk again. Five years of treatment later, she was pronounced a “cancer survivor” but she was told sports were out of the question. She had lost part of her hearing and a kidney.
Against all odds, Kentleigh went on to play basketball and softball and run track. She also became a cheerleader, big time. A four-time National Cheerleaders Association All-American, she was named Texas Cheerleader of the Year in 2018.
Kentleigh is checked once a year now, not for cancer but for problems caused by chemotherapy she received. For more on Kentleigh, click here or here.
