Kentucky sophomore dancer Kate Kaufling recently received news that no one ever wants to hear.
"So about early April Kate was starting to find some bumps all over her, and we didn't think much of it at first, but turns out earlier in the year about early January we were in national season and her knee was hurting. But being a collegiate athlete, especially for a dancer that's common, so then we got home for the summer and my mom was like, 'You might as well just get those bumps checked out,' Kate's twin sister and sophomore Kentucky dancer Abbey Kaufling said.
"She saw a ton of different doctors and they all kept telling us, 'It's not cancer, it's not cancer,' and finally she got a biopsey. On June 2nd they told us that it was osteosarcoma."
Kate started chemotherapy on June 20th and finding out about the news came as a shock to many close to her.
"Just a month before this I'm thinking, 'Wow she was at the complete top of her game in tryouts,' then you hear that and it's just like a huge blow on top of going, 'God this is one of our kids that is 19 years old," said Kentucky head dance coach Dawn Walters.
"We were in Chicago and it was just shocking. It's not anything you can comprehend or process, so we just knew we had to get back for the family. We drove through the night to get home because we just wanted to be there and show our love and support even though it just didn't even seem possible that this young, vibrant, strong, beautiful, healthy, young girl is actually battling cancer," said family friend Tina Ladegast.
This battle hits close to home for head dance coach Dawn Walters. Her husband passed away three years ago from cancer.
"I try to take something positive from whatever comes my way. You never want to have to go through things like this but when people have gone through things like this, I'm hoping that I can provide just some of that extra support in however it's supposed to go to her," said Walters.
Kate's friends and family have put together a gofundme account online called Kate's Krew with a K, along with a facebook page you can join where you can follow along with her journey.
"We had so many people in our community reaching out saying, 'How can we help?' So I decided they're going to have a lot of expenses. She's being treated out of Cincinnati Children's Hospital, so we knew they would be traveling from their home in Louisville up to Cincinnati with long stays and this is probably going to be a long battle, probably at least eight months to a year," family friend and Gofundme organizer Tina Ladegast said.
"Just the treatment alone and in-hospital stays so we wanted to put together a gofundme so people can show their love and support in that way and it will certainly help the family. Both Steve and Holly have dedicated their entire careers to public service, and it's our way to give back to them. And we would love BBN's support to help this young lady fight this battle."
"This is her turn to be the lead dancer. She is the lead. We're her backup dancers," Walters said.
"Kate I love you. I'm here for you on your hardest days and when you can't fight, I'm going to be fighting for you. You'll always be my biggest hero," Abbey said.
