11-year-old maintains her spirit while battling brain cancer

BLAND COUNTY, Va. (WDBJ) - The Bland County community is rallying around a family whose 11-year-old daughter was diagnosed with brain cancer in May. Despite the rough last month, Bella Ward is keeping a smile on her face throughout her battle with cancer.

“When the doctor came in the room to tell us that this tumor was cancerous, Bella sits up and says, ‘So I’ve got cancer? Aw, man.’ It was hilarious,” said Chris Ward, Bella’s father. “When we told our family everything about the year, a year and a half, Bella was sitting there with a smile on her face. Everybody was crying, and she said, ‘Why are y’all crying? God has got this. It’s going to be great. It’s going to be healed.’”

In late May, an oncologist told the Ward family that Bella had only a year to a year and a half left to live, but that hasn’t deterred her spirit.

“When the doctor told her she had a year, year and a half, she said, ‘You’re a liar. God’s got plans for me,’ She is the strongest kid I’ve ever met, she was told that the strong ones win this, and she said ‘I’m going to be strong all the way through it.’ That is the only reason Chris and I can be halfway as positive as we are today,” said Christy Ward, Bella’s mother.

In early May, Bella was hit in the head with a basketball during recess and started having bad headaches. Her family and family doctor thought she had a concussion, but a CT Scan at Radford Hospital on May 14 revealed a brain tumor.

“Bella was a perfectly healthy kid. She was playing travel basketball, and she was into cheerleading. She played softball, and she ran around and jumped on the trampoline. On May 10, she was in a beauty pageant for Bland County, and she was running around in her pageant dress chasing chickens. She was perfectly healthy, perfectly fine until this basketball hit her in the head. We call it a God wink. God winked and told us what was wrong with our daughter,” said Christy.

The family spent two weeks at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, and on May 25 it was confirmed that Bella’s tumor was cancerous. Doctors initially told the family they couldn’t operate on Bella or put her through chemotherapy because there wasn’t a safe place to cut. Now, a doctor at St. Jude Children’s Hospital in Memphis has given them new hope.

“He said ‘I’m going to cut, I’m going to do surgery, I’m going to remove some of that and give her some room. He’s going to put a port in, a shunt in, and remove some of the cysts that are fluid-like and some of the necrotic parts of the tumor that have died off to give room for radiation and chemo to do something,” said Christy.

The family drove to St. Jude Wednesday. Despite her battle with cancer, Bella has maintained her faith and positive attitude.

“I just believe that God has got this, and I’m going to be okay. If I’m sad about it, especially if they say I’ve only got a year left on earth, I don’t want to be sad about it,” said Bella.

Bella was baptized Sunday. She said she will get better and share her testimony in hopes of bringing more people to God.

“I want to get people started in church or bring them back into church if they stopped, because I’ve already brought two people back into church,” said Bella.

Bella said her advice for other kids who are battling cancer is to have faith and stay strong.

The cancer treatment and traveling to hospitals have taken an emotional and financial toll on the family, but their community has been there to support them every step of the way.

“There’s a guy named Justin Estep. He has put together a raccoon hunt benefit, and they’ve been raffling off a bunch of stuff and raising money. He has got people all over the United States. He has been great,” said Chris. “Our community, everybody has come together. There have been benefit dinners, church communities, and people sending Cash App and GoFundMe. It’s just been amazing.”

Christy Ward said she wants Bella’s friends to know that through God, Bella will be okay. She said Bella has a strong support network to help her in her battle with cancer.

“Bella has aunts on both sides, and she’s surrounded by love. I think that’s another big support for her. Her daddy and I have not left her side. Her brother is younger than her, and he asks what he can do to help sissy every day,” said Christy.

Anyone interested in donating to help the family with their medical costs can do so here.