INDIANAPOLIS — After two years of battling aggressive cancer, 10-year-old Kadence Turientine is now cancer-free. She celebrated this milestone by ringing the bell at Ascension St. Vincent. The very next day, she dressed up and competed in the Miss Indy Juneteenth Beauty Pageant, securing second place.
"I am just amazed by the fact that she does not look like what she's been through," said her mother, Kierra Turientine. "We just felt like this was her victory lap, you know, life has given her everything that it has. And she came back full throttle fighting."
It was quite a journey. In March 2022, Kadence reported excessive exhaustion and tingling in her lips and arms. Doctors diagnosed her with B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia and prepared the family for extensive treatment.
Her PE teacher, Ms. Azjah Bass, at Crooked Creek Elementary, shares a close bond with Kadence.
"She means a lot to me, and I will tell you, Kadence in class was always that bright spirit," Bass said.
She galvanized school support.
"It was just placed on my heart when I heard about it that, hey, we gotta do something," Bass said.
The teacher promised to shave her head if the community raised $10,000. They quickly surpassed the goal, and Bass followed through in an outside school assembly, showing her support. She allowed Kadence to start the shave and even dunked in a dunk tank afterward.
"I love her so much. Can't get over that she did that for me," Kadence said.
Perhaps Bass understood more of what was ahead for Kadence and her entire family.
"I feel like there's nothing that you're really prepared for. It was the most challenging two years of my life," Kierra said. "Not only did I have to go through the fight with my daughter, but I lost over 10 loved ones during that time. I also lost my job. And at the end of the day, I still had to maintain my sense of calmness and be present for my daughter. So that was really challenging."
Kadence's little brother stood in for her at her fifth-grade graduation. Classmates and friends visited in person and virtually as Kadence endured a series of blood transfusions, spinal taps and hospital stays before finally returning to campus.
"She had to take off a whole year. She went back to school and still managed to pull off a 4.0 GPA, make the cheer team, and she was just doing everything she could to the best of her ability. And for that, I'm grateful. I'm like, she finally gets to live her life because life was stolen from her in her fifth-grade year," Kierra said.
Now, the family is pausing to say thanks to those who supported them from the start, like Ms. Bass. She says, in time, her hair grew back.
"I would do it again in a heartbeat. It's just a small token of what she went through and what she really endured," Bass said.
During Kadence's treatment, Bass got promoted. She is now the assistant athletic director at North Central High School. And now, this teacher-student duo is looking forward to reuniting on the same campus again when Kadence is a freshman.
"She has defied all the odds. I'm just like...watching miracles happen right in front of your eyes," Bass said. "I am really looking forward to having that group come in that freshman year and just watching them reach the finish line."