An inspiring little girl from Denton, Hallie Barnard, beat the odds to find a bone marrow donor and cure a rare blood disease, only to find herself facing an even bigger hurdle.
Hallie is an 11-year-old warrior. NBC 5 has followed her journey as she's been fighting for her life, without ever losing her smile.
At her side, you'll often find her friend Fort Worth Police Officer Brandi Kamper. Kamper recently posted a video of the pair dressed as Aladdin’s Genie and Jasmine cracking jokes from MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, a place Hallie's family never expected to be.
"We had kind of thought we were done after she had her bone marrow transplant and we're not, the fight's back on," said Hallie’s mother Elyse Barnard.
Last summer, Hallie reached a years-long mission, finding a bone marrow donor to cure her rare blood disorder, Diamond-Blackfan Anemia. But just as she recovered from the grueling transplant process, that included intensive chemotherapy, a small lump formed on her left leg.
"They x-rayed Hallie's leg and they come in and they tell her that it's a tumor," said Officer Kamper.
It was bone cancer, leading right back to chemo and then on Monday, a 13-hour surgery to amputate her leg.
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The very next day, Elyse Barnard recounted, "The physical therapist came in and was like well we'll just give you a little bit of a rest and she was like no pain, no gain, let's go, what do I need to do?"
What to do to make it better? It's the same question that led to the founding of Hallie's Heroes, a 501c3 that raises money for research, finding more bone marrow donors and paying for other families' medical bills.
As Hallie prepped for surgery, Officer Kamper set a goal: raise $10,000 for Hallie's Heroes in the three weeks leading up to her birthday.
"I think it was at the 20-hour mark, we hit 10 grand!" Kamper said.
It's since topped $17,000 and counting, a tribute to everything Hallie stands for.
Officer Kamper recalled what Hallie said when she learned she had cancer: "If God put me back in this hospital it's because there's more people that we're supposed to be helping."
And she'll never stop.
Hallie's Heroes recently expanded to raise money for all childhood cancers, as well as Hallie's blood disorder. Click here to donate.
