CHARLOTTE, N.C. —  A cancer diagnosis for a 9-year-old in 2021 sparked a call to action. 

The Olivia Strong Foundation, named after Olivia Reardon, aims to bring awareness and find a cure to childhood cancer. 

In 2021, Olivia was diagnosed with stage 4 rhabdomyosarcoma, a rare cancer that forms in soft tissue. 

“Your heart sinks, especially when you hear stage 4,” Olivia’s mom Christina Meyers said. 

Olivia had a golfball-sized tumor behind her right eye and underwent two surgeries, 66 weeks of chemotherapy and 28 rounds of radiation. 

“You want to do what you can to make your child feel better and you’re helpless watching them. It’s heartwrenching,” Meyers said. 

While Olivia was undergoing treatment, a neighbor’s pool and golf courses were some of her safe places to have fun. 

“It really helped me through a lot,” Olivia said. 

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 15,000 children and teens under the age of 20 are diagnosed with cancer every year in the U.S. 

“Pediatric cancer as a whole is still quite rare but it’s still the leading cause of death by disease for children,” Novant Health Hemby Children’s Hospital pediatric hematologist and oncologist Dr. Christine Bolen said. 

Through the Olivia Strong Foundation, the Reardons have raised $400,000. The donations went to Novant Health Hemby Children’s Hospital-St. Jude Affiliate Clinic, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and Make-A-Wish. 

Meyers said part of the donations went to research. 

“We don’t have a cure yet and we still have a lot of kids that are getting all types of cancer out there and some rare ones, which is what Olivia had,” Meyers said. 

Bolen said funding for pediatric cancer research is critical.

“What we are looking for is not just to improve outcomes, but to improve therapies to reduce the risk of some of these long-term or what we call late effects of cancer therapy,” Bolen said. 

Olivia is a fighter — she was born prematurely and had two heart surgeries before she had cancer. She has now been in remission since April. 

This summer has been more relaxed than last. 

“It’s easier to do stuff this year because I don’t have to worry about getting sick. I’m really happy I get to do all this stuff,” Olivia said. 

Now, the rising sixth-grader is preparing to return to the classroom full time.

“I’m really excited because I haven’t even gotten the full experience of a whole grade since third grade or so but even then I was virtual in third grade,” Olivia said. 

Her mom is excited to see what she’ll do next. 

“It’s every parent’s dream to watch your child grow and thrive,” Meyers said. 

Bolen said leukemia, brain tumors and lymphoma are the top three types of pediatric cancer. 

Nine percent of the Stand Up to Cancer’s research fund goes to pediatric cancer. On Saturday, the organization is celebrating 15 years of funding cancer research during its televised special.