No parent wants to be told “Your child has cancer”, but for David and Robin Stout, it was a reality. Their daughter Keira Stout was just one of the thousands of kids who get diagnosed with cancer.

“I couldn’t believe it was happening to us, I was scared and went into auto pilot and did what I had to do,” Mrs. Stout said.

September is National Childhood Cancer Awareness Month and for some, it’s remembrance.

According to St. Jude’s Research Hospital, “cancer is diagnosed in about 175,000 children ages 14 and under worldwide”.

Keira, a fourth grade student at Mid Rivers Elementary School and also an honorary firefighter for the O’Fallon Fire District, touched many people’s lives, including my own.

She was diagnosed at the age of 7 with stage four rhabdomyosarcoma which is a rare tumor in soft tissue of the body. Once fighting the battle and being cancer free, she relapsed and fought the disease for a little while longer. Unfortunately, Keira lost her battle on May 3, 2017 leaving behind many people who loved her.

Being in only fourth grade, she has spread so much kindness. Her favorite saying was “Kind is the New Cool”. Keira wanted to spread more kindness to make others happy. The way people live her legacy is by spreading RAK cards (random acts of kindness). The little things like paying for someones order behind you could be special to that person. These cards have made their way all around the country and keep going from person to person.

Continuing with the kindness, the family now has their program KeiraStrongForever and is planning on helping other families with kids that have cancer and help pay for their mortgages for a few months.

“We also hope to give wish days to kids who have relapsed or are considered terminal,” Mrs. Stout said. The wish days would be just one day for the child to feel like a kid again and just have fun

Even though Kiera is gone from our lives, she is still with us. Many people have helped spread around kindness to keep her spirit alive. If you would like to join and help more families, visit https://www.keirastrongforever.org/participate/