Annaleigh Grilo picked up the hammer and stared at the silent bell; only rung in the oncology wing as a declaration of freedom. She looked into the crowd of supporters: a mixture of family, friends, and doctors who had become forged, like the bell metal, into a solid shoulder of love and support. She pulled her arm back, her smile radiating pride and accomplishment and let the hammer fly. The bell vibrated it’s call: that eighteen rounds of chemotherapy, which took nine months to complete, had concluded. The reverberation of the toll was met with cheers as those at the hospital knew that sound signaled, not only an ending, but also a beginning.
“So, I have osteosarcoma,” she told her large group of friends and family in an instagram post in August, 2018. “It’s a type of bone cancer in my femur. And I’m starting treatment immediately.” At that time her braided long brown hair framed her angelic face like two exclamation points as she posted from her bed at the Nicklaus Children’s Hospital in Miami.
“One day I was a regular teenager who thought about taking the SAT, going to the next school dance, playing my guitar, singing and exercising. I felt fine, energetic and happy,” she said. “Then suddenly I had horrible pain and a little bump on my leg. I thought I’d just worked out way too hard. A few days later I was a patient going through treatment and then surgery. It was a lot to take in. I’m not saying that I didn’t have a few tough moments, but through it all, I just knew I would be okay. I had faith.”
“Annaleigh has always been a positive person,” said her mother, Debi, “but her attitude throughout this ordeal has been truly amazing. She has faced each day with courage and determination. Her father and I wonder if her participation in live-theater and concerts has helped her with this ordeal.” Annaleigh was accustomed to being on stage and is experienced in techniques necessary to remain focused, confident and on-target. Skills that would definitely assist her and her desire to remain positive while she tackled this issue.
“Although it’s been a personal struggle,” Annaleigh remarked, “I think I’m actually a good person to have this thing happen to. I believe that everything happens for a reason and that these things will help you grow. So I had to find something good in this experience. Things don’t happen just to cause you pain,” she said in a recent interview.
“There have been lots of positives that occurred during these trying months. I’ve learned to have fewer attachments to things and ideas and to be more open to the path life actually takes instead of the one I planned for. Life can change so quickly and without warning. I embraced the changes that occurred and then knew I needed to conquer them.”
Annaleigh’s family and friends have become a consistent cushion offering their support and love. “I have become a lot closer to my older sister, Juliana, who goes to the University of Miami. My parents have loved me through everything and my friends’ visits are so important. I feel very blessed,” she said.
At seventeen years of age, Annaleigh, is once again focusing on her future instead of just enduring the moment. “I’m going to start my senior year of high school with everyone at Seacrest Day School in Naples. This year I had to be tutored at home. It may be a bit hard to get around in this wheelchair with my leg lifted for protection while I’m at school, but I’ll be okay. I’m ready to refocus on high school and then college,” she said.
People tend to gravitate to Annaleigh’s courageous attitude. Her soft brown eyes illuminate a loving energy amidst the canvass of her lightly freckled face, now lacking her long hair due to the effects of the chemotherapy. Her beauty radiates and touches everyone she meets like the bell’s toll which declared the end of eighteen rounds of chemotherapy and the beginning of her healing journey. As of April 30, all of her scans are clear of cancer.