5k run/walk to be held Sept. 17 in honor of Corbin cancer survivor

Candace Keith

A special 5k walk/run will take place Sept. 17 in honor of a Corbin girl who was diagnosed with leukemia as a third-grader, and has been battling the disease ever since.

Pre-registration is continuing for “Candace’s Courage Race,” which will be held at Corbin High School. The race, which starts at 6:00 p.m., is an event to increase leukemia awareness and proceeds will go to support bone marrow transplant research at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, the Kentucky Children’s Hospital Survivor Picnic and ongoing medical expenses for the girl the race is named after.

Candace Keith is now 11-years-old. She was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia when she was eight. It’s a form of blood cancer that causes the rapid growth of abnormal white blood cells that accumulate in the bone marrow and interfere with the production of normal blood cells.

Keith has undergone two bone marrow transplants in an effort to fight the disease — a battle her grandmother says she is steadily winning.

“She’s a trooper,” said Lisa Conn, Keith’s grandmother. “She is so thankful and always appreciates everything. She loves going outside and she can’t wait everyday to come home to do her homework.”

Keith is a sixth grader now at Corbin Intermediate School, but has been on the school district’s homebound program. Conn said it looks as though her granddaughter will get to return to a regular school setting in December.

“It takes awhile for her immune system to build up,” Conn said. “Everything is moving in the right direction.”

As a third-grader, Keith was diagnosed with mononucleosis — a fairly common viral infection — but after overcoming the illness, she remained tired and weak. He parents and doctors suspected there could be other underlying medical issues.

Doctors noticed her lymph nodes were swollen and prescribed antibiotics. Later blood work showed an extraordinarily high white blood cell count — 128,000. The count normally ranges from 4,000 to 8,000.

In 2013, a bone marrow test revealed the kind of diagnosis every parent fears most.

Keith’s road to recovery has been tough typified by lots of time in the hospital and some setbacks. But Conn said she’s kept a positive attitude through it all.

All participants of the race will receive a special t-shirt featuring a drawing Keith made of her dog “Cutie.”

“She’s an artsy kind of kid,” Conn said. “The drawing is very cute.”

For more information about the race, go to www.facebook.com/candacecorbinky.