“Hi, I'm Braelynn. What's your name?”

Braelynn had never been on an airplane before. As it lifted off from Jamaica, the 4-year-old pressed her face against the window.

“Mommy! We're in the sky!”

Tamika smiled at her daughter's excitement. But inside, she could think of only one thing: Would she get to bring her little girl back home?

A month earlier, doctors at their local children's hospital had discovered a mass in Braelynn's right abdomen. She was referred to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital®, and now mother and daughter were flying to Memphis, Tennessee.

It was the first trip to the United States for both. “I thought Brae would have been scared,” Tamika said. “She was not.”

Tamika was scared enough for them both. But she never let Braelynn see her tears.

“I didn’t want her to be scared,” Tamika said. Not through the medical tests and difficult conversations that followed. Not during the frantic rush to get visas and a passport for Braelynn. Not even through the hardest part: saying goodbye to Braelynn’s dad, Edward, and sister, Bella, before boarding the plane, not knowing when they would all be together again.

Tamika reminded Braelynn, “You’re a strong girl. You’re very brave.”

But where Tamika saw uncertainty, Braelynn saw possibility. A plane ride. A new place. New people. 

Braelynn introduces herself to just about everyone: “Hi, I’m Braelynn. What’s your name? Do you want to play with me?”  

When Tamika cautions her daughter, “Brae, remember, stranger danger,” Braelynn has a ready answer: “What if I ask her her name? She won't be a stranger anymore.”

‘How does a child have cancer?’

Two days before Hurricane Melissa hit Jamaica in October 2025, Braelynn complained of pain in her right side so bad that she couldn’t stand. At the children’s hospital, doctors suspected appendicitis until an ultrasound revealed the mass. They consulted with the medical team at St. Jude and referred Braelynn there for treatment.

Tamika and Edward had so many questions: “How does a child have cancer?” “What will happen next?” A social worker encouraged them to take things one step at a time. 

Tamika and Braelynn arrived at St. Jude on Nov. 23, 2025. Tamika arrived wary.  Braelynn approached everyone with a smile, a question and an invitation to play.

Within a week, a biopsy confirmed Braelynn had Wilms tumor, a cancer which starts in immature kidney cells. Her right kidney was affected. In most cases, there’s no clear cause.  

In words a preschooler could understand, a St. Jude Child Life specialist explained to Braelynn that she had a sick spot that needed treatment. 

Braelynn started six weeks of chemotherapy on Dec. 2. Within the first week, her care team could see it was working. The mass was shrinking.

Braelynn lost her hair but didn’t feel nauseous or lethargic. After each appointment, she received a prize. She’d ask medical staff, “Can I have a toy now?” Then she’d jump up. “OK, let’s go. Can I come with you to see the toy closet?” She learned the location of every toy closet at St. Jude.

On their way back to their housing at St. Jude, Braelynn would ask, “Can I walk?” and climb out of the red wagon. She’d skip the whole way back.

So positive, so strong 

In February 2026, Braelynn had surgery to remove the remaining tumor and her right kidney. She was discharged from inpatient care on her 5th birthday. The nurses decorated her room and got her a cake with white and pink frosting. Pink is Braelynn’s favorite color. 

“Mommy,” she said, “I wanted a bounce house.” At home in Jamaica, birthdays meant bounce houses. Tamika promised next year for sure.

Then, Braelynn started three weeks of proton beam radiotherapy that, unlike chemotherapy, left her nauseated and exhausted. 

She was enrolled in SJWT21, a St. Jude-led clinical trial studying the effectiveness of treating Wilms tumor with proton beam radiotherapy to better protecting growing bodies from the long-term effects of traditional radiation. Proton therapy uses protons instead of X-rays to deliver a targeted field radiation inside the tumor, reducing unintended damage to surrounding organs and tissue.    

Braelynn lost so much weight that she needed a feeding tube.

“She did not like the tube,” Tamika said. “Not one bit.”

Braelynn began to put on weight and when the tube came out, she ate and drank enough to keep it on.

Braelynn kept moving toward life.

“For a 5-year-old, she amazes me every day,” Tamika said. “She’s so positive. She’s so strong.”

Kind people everywhere

After four months off work, Tamika arranged with her employer to work remotely, so she could be there when Braelynn needed her. 

Braelynn started kindergarten at the St. Jude Imagine Academy by Chili’s. On the playground, she made sure all the children were included. 

One day at The Domino's Village, a patient family housing facility at St. Jude, Tamika was getting their meals in the dining room when she looked up to find her daughter sitting at a table with a woman and young boy.

Braelynn had wandered over and introduced herself, asking, “Can I sit here? What are your names?” Soon they were chatting like old friends.

When it was time to leave, Braelynn protested: “Mommy, I'm talking!”

It was a reminder of what Braelynn seemed to discover again and again: There were kind people everywhere. Friends. 

At St. Jude, Braelynn and Tamika found a community of families who understood exactly what they were going through. Other Jamaican families were there during the same time.

"We talk to each other. We encourage each other. We pray together," Tamika said. 

There were ordinary childhood adventures along the way. Braelynn loves playgrounds.  She loves the zoo, too, especially the hippos.

During one visit to the Memphis Zoo, she spent much of the afternoon asking the same question: “Where's the hippos?” Tamika urged patience as she hauled the wagon past other exhibits. “We're getting there.”

When they finally arrived, the hippos were underwater, barely visible except for the tops of their heads. Braelynn waited them out, refusing to leave until they showed themselves above the water. They’re her friends, too. 

Home to Jamaica

In August 2026, Braelynn and Tamika got to go home. Braelynn was sad to leave all her new friends, but she was excited to see Bella and her dad. “She hasn’t allowed me to do anything for her — feed her, bathe her or put her to bed,” Tamika said. “She tells me, ‘I want daddy to do it.’”

If Tamika tells her no, Braelynn goes to Edward. “Daddy!” she tattles. “Mommy is being naughty.”

They’ve visited friends and family, taken a trip to the beach and caught up on what they missed.

Braelynn’s still introducing herself. Still making friends.

She shows people the scar on her belly and asks, “Do you know I had surgery?” She points to her medical port and explains matter-of-factly what she’s been through. Braelynn misses her friends and care team in Memphis. She’ll see them again at her next checkup, when her port should come out. 

Riding in the car one day, Braelynn noticed her dad driving with his arm hanging out the window.

“Daddy,” she said from the back seat, “put your arm in the car.”

A few minutes later, he absentmindedly did it again.

“Daddy, I said don't do it again!”

“Yes, sergeant!” he replied.

The moment made Tamika laugh. It also felt like a glimpse of the future. Whatever Braelynn becomes, Tamika thinks she’ll be in charge. Maybe a police officer. Maybe a judge. Maybe a doctor.

Whatever Braelynn chooses, her parents are grateful. Tamika still remembers the fear she felt boarding that airplane. The uncertainty. The questions. The worry she carried for her little girl.

What stays with her now is something else: the stronger faith she found in watching Braelynn. She has a deeper appreciation for ordinary moments. “I was granted more time with her,” Tamika said. “Every day is a blessing with her.”

She wanted to protect her daughter from a scary world. Instead, Braelynn kept finding reasons not to be afraid.

All it took was, “Hi, I'm Braelynn.” Wherever she went, the world answered back.