Welcome, Cora! This resilient little girl is five years old. She is battling Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia.

Cora was diagnosed in October 2020 after being sent in for bloodwork, in relation to daily complaints of mild back pain and a bump behind her ear. Her family drove 2.5 hours from home the day of diagnosis to Children’s Hospital Los Angeles to begin chemo the next day. Cora hasn’t stepped foot in her own house since that day.

Just three weeks into treatment, Cora got a very serious infection and went into septic shock. She was emergency intubated, in the PICU for 12 days, went through opioid withdrawals, ICU delirium, dysphagia, and much more. She had to relearn how to swallow, walk, and talk.

Since then, her family says that she's been doing really well and is tolerating all of her treatments.

Once she finishes frontline treatment, she and her family will finally be able to return home. She’ll then have about 18 months of maintenance therapy, including oral chemo and monthly trips to CHLA for infusions.

Her family shares, “Cora is a spunky, smart, beautiful, sassy girl whose life got turned upside down when she was diagnosed.”