Bella’s journey began in February 2016, when she was just five years old.

She was diagnosed with epilepsy after experiencing seizures, and an MRI revealed a small abnormal area in her brain. At the time, doctors believed it might simply be related to her seizure activity. Testing for limbic encephalitis came back negative, and for more than a year, her family continued searching for answers.

Then, in April 2017, everything changed.

Bella was six years old and at school when she experienced a drop seizure followed by her first significant post-ictal episode. She didn't recognize her surroundings or even familiar adults. Her grandfather immediately took her to Nicklaus Children's Hospital.

After two days in the hospital, a neurosurgeon came to speak with her family.

Bella had a brain tumor.

Doctors believed the tumor was a pilocytic astrocytoma, one of the most common types of pediatric brain tumors. Her family was reassured that these tumors are generally slow-growing and that hers might never require treatment.

But six months later, Bella's tumor had grown significantly.

At just six years old, Bella underwent laser ablation surgery to destroy as much of the tumor as doctors could safely reach. The procedure was successful, and everyone hoped this would be the end of her tumor journey.

For the next two years, her scans looked encouraging.

Then, in November 2019, Bella's neurosurgeon saw something no one wanted to see.

The tumor was growing again.

Bella was referred to oncology. Within months, she had a port placed in her chest and began chemotherapy.

For the next 16 months, chemotherapy became part of Bella's childhood. She received both intravenous and oral chemotherapy, returning week after week for treatment while trying to continue being a kid in between.

At the end of those 16 months, her family received devastating news.

The tumor hadn't shrunk.

It was larger than when chemotherapy began.

Bella needed another brain surgery. This time, laser ablation wasn't enough.

In June 2021, at ten years old, Bella underwent a craniotomy. Surgeons removed nearly 90% of the tumor, along with brain tissue from areas believed to be contributing to her seizures.

Testing of the tumor finally provided another important piece of Bella's story.

Although her type of tumor was common among pediatric brain tumors, its genetic mutation was not.

Bella's tumor carried a rare KRAS mutation.

This helped explain why her tumor had not responded as hoped to chemotherapy. It also meant that if the tumor returned, traditional chemotherapy was unlikely to be a viable treatment option.

For several years, Bella continued forward with her life.

Then came the spring of 2025.

Bella began experiencing unexplained episodes of severe dizziness and vomiting. Initially, everyone wondered whether her seizures had changed, but EEG testing did not show that the episodes were seizures.

By May 2025, imaging revealed the answer.

Her original tumor had grown again.

And there was something else.

Bella now had a second brain tumor, located within the right ventricle of her brain.

Her family suddenly faced decisions they never imagined having to make.

For the next four months, Bella and her family searched for answers. They sought second and third opinions and consulted specialists at the University of Miami Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, Dana-Farber/Boston Children's Cancer and Blood Disorders Center, Miami Cancer Institute, and her longtime home hospital, Nicklaus Children's Hospital.

Each consultation brought more information, more questions and incredibly difficult choices.

Ultimately, Bella and her family made the decision to travel to Boston for the biggest surgery of her life.

In September 2025, Bella underwent an extensive brain operation with the goal of removing both tumors.

The surgery was an extraordinary success.

Her surgical team was confident they had completely removed the ventricular tumor and approximately 99% of her primary tumor.

After years of seizures, surgeries, chemotherapy, hospital stays, scans, ports, medications and uncertainty, Bella once again got the opportunity to move forward.

There will always be scans.

There will always be the possibility of regrowth.

But today, Bella is thriving, and her most recent imaging shows no present need for additional intervention.

And now she wants to turn everything she has been through into something bigger than herself.

Bella knows what it feels like to be the child sitting in the infusion chair.

She knows what it's like to have a port, to lose entire days to treatment, to undergo brain surgery and to wait for scan results that could change everything.

She also remembers the things that made those days a little easier.

That is why Bella wants to use her experience to help the children who come after her.

Through We Are the Fight, Bella hopes to raise funds to create joyful experiences for pediatric cancer patients and their families, help families with needs that arise during treatment, and support hospitals in making treatment days a little brighter for the children in their care.

She dreams of partnering with businesses and major corporations to create special bags for children beginning chemotherapy — filled with the things she learned firsthand can provide comfort, entertainment and a little bit of normalcy during long treatment days.

She wants to help bring safe, fun activities directly into hospitals for children who can't simply leave treatment behind for the afternoon.

She wants kids facing cancer and serious illnesses to know that there are other kids who understand.

And, perhaps most importantly, Bella wants young people in her own community to understand that you do not have to be an adult to make a difference.

There are countless ways to help a child and family going through cancer treatment. Sometimes it is financial. Sometimes it is donating something a child needs. Sometimes it is volunteering, creating an experience, raising awareness or simply showing another child that they haven't been forgotten.

Bella cannot change what happened to her.

But she can decide what she does with it.

Her fight became her purpose.

And now, through We Are the Fight, Bella hopes to make sure that no child has to fight alone.

For every child in the chair.
For every family waiting on a scan.
For every kid who deserves more childhood and fewer hospital days.
And for every fighter still fighting.