Katie's courageous win on Soccer Nation Soccer News for Youth Soccer, Club Soccer, Soccer Training

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Katie's courageous win

By: Erin Murphy

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Posted: Sunday, April 18, 2010 9:43 pm

Katie Hawley (blue hat) anxiously awaits to get into the game.

Katie playing soccer before the cancer.

It’s not a surprise that Katie Hawley would want to put up a good fight--it’s what she does on and off the field.

“I’m really not allowed to be too aggressive toward other players because I have tubes hanging out of my chest, but I’m looking forward to being able to push people around again,” said the 10-year-old, otherwise known as “Kit Kat.”

The So Cal Blues hero charges back onto the field this spring, anxious to show her defensive side and rough players up a bit.

For the past nine months, Katie has been fighting for her life after being diagnosed with Stage 3, high risk GanglioNeuroblastoma nodular cancer last July. Doctors removed an egg-sized tumor growing from Katie’s right adrenal gland, the adrenal gland itself and two of her lymph nodes.

The news of Katie’s cancer rocked the community to the core. Competitive soccer clubs threw out rivalries and politics to rally around Katie and her family. Fundraisers were held to help raise money. Meals were provided for the family three times a week. Boys shaved their heads and girls cut their hair short when they heard Katie was going to lose all of her hair. Neighbors tied ribbons to the trees lining the neighborhood to remind everyone to pray for Katie.

“The support has been nothing short of astonishing,” Katie’s mother Mary Kay said. “Our neighbors, the soccer community, Katie’s school and church have all poured out their love and energy on our little girl, bringing us humbly to our knees in gratitude.”

Katie now plays on the GU11 A team for coaches Tad Bobak and Rob Ronnie. Her goals for the new club season are to get back her endurance and speed as well as work on her ball control skills.

When Katie was unable to attend games and tournaments this past season because she was in and out of the hospital, her teammates would take photos and pose holding three fingers up. The number three signified Katie’s jersey number and the one player missing from the photo. One teammate would even

Katie with dog, Dillon.

write letters to Katie to fill her in on what happened in the games. Katie’s former coach for the past two years, Mary Naimie, kept her fighting midfielder very connected to the team at all times. Naimie single-handedly organized a blood drive for Katie, which drew 150 people to give blood.

Getting to play outdoors in the sunshine with her teammates will be a nice change of scenery for Katie, who has altogether battled six rounds of chemo, 26 days of isolation and 12 treatments of radiation. Katie stepped on the field for the first time recently to play with her GU10 team in a friendly. Her dad, Bob, caught the memorable moment on tape and put the video up on YouTube.

“Before she went in, Katie told me she was nervous,” wrote Bob in the journal the family keeps about Katie on Caringbridge.org. “I told her to just go in there and do what she needed to do but that it would be okay if she didn’t go in at all. Her teammates were very supportive of her, so she did it. Then as Katie and her teammates took the field, the nearby church bells rang. I knew it was going to be something special and it was. What a day! What a special, special day!”

That day, her first day back on the field in over eight months, Katie delivered two assists off of her powerful corner kicks

Katie Hawley and her new GU11 team.

“Everyone came up to hug me,” Katie said. “It made me feel so happy.”

Thankfully at this time Katie’s cancer is in remission. However, she still has a long road ahead of her. The doctors just detected that Katie has significant hearing loss and will need hearing aids for both ears. Over the next six months Katie and Mary Kay will travel up to Children’s Hospital Los Angeles where Katie will undergo a new antibody treatment, which will increase her 50-50 survival rate an additional 20 percent. She will be in the hospital once a month for five to 10 days at a time for the new treatment and will have to undergo testing every three months for the next three years.

Despite the long haul ahead and the statistics of survival, if there is any kid that can kick cancer to the curb, it’s Katie.

The proof is in her corner kicks.

To make a donation for Katie or to find out more about how to participate with Team Kit Kat in the upcoming Pediatric Cancer Research Foundation 5K, click here.

Member Opinions:

By: dani78 on 5/1/10
Keep fighting, Katie! An inspiration to us all!

By: Carey on 4/29/10
Great article!! What a strong young lady!

By: Charles on 4/27/10
What a courageous young lady. Thanks for writing about this. Great article and we like the new soccer site a lot. We need a site like this.

By: ngvance on 4/27/10
Very inspiring young lady and a great article.

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