Isabella Day is on a mission to put childhood cancers in the national spotlight. On Tuesday, she will go from her home in Waxahachie to Washington, D.C. to advocate for funding for childhood cancers.
For the 12-year-old, it's personal.
"I still have the cancer, but I'm currently not on treatment because I've run out of treatment options because of the lack of funding," Day said.
Day happened to meet Congressman Jake Ellzey, who invited her to his office to hear her story and then asked her to share it in Washington, D.C.
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"To show how important this is to me. Not just to me, but to other people too," Day said. "How much this could help, like, fund research and maybe even, like, cures for all the childhood cancers."
Day wants Congress to pass bills to fund childhood cancer research and allow children with cancer to take part in drug trials.
Just 4% of cancer research funding goes to childhood cancers. Day was diagnosed with stage 4 neuroblastoma when she was just 9 months old.
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"We've always said from the time she's been diagnosed, we don't want to waste what we've been handed," Isabella's mother Leslie Ables Day said. "I'm very proud of her for being willing to use her voice and to advocate for other kids like her who are sitting here right now without treatment options due to lack of research."
'In the past, I've dealt with pain, and I feel sometimes that people will, like, make fun of me or think of me as just the 'cancer girl'," Day said.
Day hopes her story will bridge political divides to help children like her. "Because it's such a powerful story," Day said.
Day will spend 2-days meeting with representatives, senators, and the National Institutes of Health.
Day's older sister, Anna, started the annual Anna's Bake Sale to raise money for childhood cancer research. It's September 30 at the Chick-fil-A in Waxahachie.
