Help Layla Pioneer A World-First Brain Cancer Cure

Layla is battling an extremely rare and aggressive brain cancer, a high grade (WHO III) anaplastic supratentorial ependymoma. Less than 200 people per year get this type of brain cancer and to make matters worse, she has a rare strain. Layla had emergency, life-saving surgery on August 2nd, 2021 by Dr. Levy, to remove a massive tumor (images below). Layla was rushed to Rady's ER the day prior with unbearable headaches and vomiting. "Save me, do something, help me," she kept screaming over and over to her helpless father. Layla has since had a second, brutal brain surgery on September 8th, as the tumor came roaring back in record time. 

 

Radiation treatment (shown below) had to be delayed due to the tumor recurrence and second surgery to remove it, but is now commencing. with hopes of stopping it in its tracks. All fundraising approved by the family will be on this page only.

 

Initially, Layla was brought to the ER on August 1st, with the thinking that she had a stomach virus and needed IV's but the parents were utterly shocked when a CT Scan revealed the tumor. The medical staff could not give her anything stronger than Tylenol since this was a brain/cognitive event and they needed her to be alert in order to show signs of a significant brain event requiring immediate action that could not wait for the main surgery team in the next (Monday) morning. That Sunday evening/night, for 18-hours straight she writhed in unimaginable pain, passing out over and over in front of her father who was helpless to do anything for her.

 

 

For a while what type of cancer this was remained a mystery, but the parents called upon St. Jude Children's Research Hospital to be a second opinion and they nailed the diagnosis. To say that this all came on as a sudden shock would be an understatement. Her parents are taking unpaid leave and semi-paid leave during this time so the financial impacts have been immediate and severe. The out of pocket expenses not covered by insurance are expected to be substantial.

 

 

Layla has loved animals since birth and wants to grow up to be a vet. She loves watching Dr. Pol and Yukon Vet on NatGeo, and wants to help the animals she loves, as well as other children. Because of this, her parents have decided that they want to do something fun and unique, and make this a multi-purpose FUN(d)raiser! Once the goal is hit, with a portion of the excess of the goal, Layla will make a donation to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, as well as to the nature/animal focused non-profit(s) of her choosing.

 

 

 

The theme here is, to help Layla, and at the same time help Layla help other children with the donation to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, and help Layla help the animals that she loves so much by donating some of the proceeds to animal non-profit(s). The picture below is her at 6-months, with her dog on the first day we brought him home.

 

 

And in the spirit of fun and giving, here is what we'd like to have everyone do:

 

1) Share it - Share it on social media, text this page link to friends so they too can watch the video, share it at work, share it anywhere you can think of

2) Donate - Thank you to all!

3) Be a FUN(d)raiser - Be a funder if you wish, but be a FUN(d)raiser - Go to your employer, tell them to get involved, donate or match and the same for your favorite brands you buy from, retailers, etc.

4) Contact your local media - Newspaper, radio station and TV station, share this story with them. Press goes a long, long way, especially with fun and unique causes

 

Thank you to everyone supporting us through this difficult time. Let us hope that we can all use this as an example of how to do something like this going forward. Enjoy some additional photos of her below. We love her so much, she is such a special, brave, and incredibly strong child.

 

 

 

Note, that this is the only FUN(d)raiser and fundraising platform we are using with two exceptions. The first is an online auction on 32auctions.com, which ended on September 23rd, 2022. And in Indiana, an old friend and colleague is doing a "Drive4Layla" concept with Lyft as he is driving for Layla, September 29th, 2022 to October 2nd, 2022.