Mary Katherine was a whirlwind of creativity, independence, love, and light. She was curious, smart, and athletic.  She enjoyed playing outside, singing, dancing, taking care of her baby dolls, and playing in her kitchen. She loved her siblings, friends, going on family vacations, swimming, watching Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood and Disney movies. She was also a big fan of Amy’s Ice Cream and Kerbey queso. 

She was always up for an adventure, whether it was going to her sibling’s sports practices/games, music performances, or riding along to take them to school, and she wanted to be a part of every experience. She loved her family’s cats, but her eyes sparkled a bit brighter when she was playing with the family dogs.

In December 2017, Mary Katherine was diagnosed with DIPG, a fast-growing and highly aggressive brain tumor, after experiencing heat sensitivity, balance issues, and a slight slack-jawed appearance, along with just not feeling great. Her diagnosis was difficult for her family, and things moved quickly as her parents tried to figure out the next steps. They felt tremendous pressure to choose the best treatment options for her, all while trying to balance her quality of life.

Her parents took her each morning for her 33 radiation treatments and held her while she was being sedated, reached out to medical researchers, compiled articles and data, learned to push doctors, watched many and often pointless needle sticks, administered multiple medications and ultimately were responsible for choosing a clinical trial.

Mary Katherine was not able to speak at the beginning of the ordeal and was saddened by her inability to do things that she had once been able to do. Once her voice came back, she was able to laugh again in her contagious belly giggle that her family loved hearing so much. It was perfect, even during her struggle with cancer.

Mary Katherine and her family made as many memories as possible, visiting Disney World on her Make-A-Wish trip, Colorado, and the beach. She watched many of her brother’s baseball games and was honored by his team with her initials monogrammed on each of their uniforms, and received her own jersey with her name on the back.

Mary Katherine battled courageously for 9½ months before passing away on September 27, 2018, at the age of 4. She was so young and had so much life left to live and joy to spread, but DIPG took her away. There were not many treatment options available for Mary Katherine due to a lack of funding for pediatric brain cancer research, so it is her family’s wish that one day children have more quality treatment opportunities and eventually a cure.

They continue to honor Mary Katherine’s life and legacy by sharing her inspiring story and through their fundraising efforts for their chapter of The Cure Starts Now, Hearts for MK (Texas).

1 in 330 children in the U.S. will develop cancer by age 20.

On the average, 15,500 children are diagnosed with cancer each year.

Cancer is the #1 killer of children by disease in the United States, yet it remains one of the most underfunded diseases in the world.

The Cure Starts Now focuses on the Homerun Cure™ to all cancers by concentrating our research funding efforts on the deadliest forms of cancer. With over $18 million in pediatric brain cancer research funding to date, you can rest assured that 100% of your donation, after credit card processing, will go directly to innovative research. Please join us in funding crucial research to save our youngest of warriors.