On Valentine’s Day 2011 Kendall Bayne was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer. She was 15. From then until she passed away last week, the former Cave Spring High School student and competition cheerleader staged a valiant and high-profile fight against the disease – a fight which rallied high school students from all over the Roanoke Valley and many others to her battle.
Bayne was 19 when she died; her life was celebrated several days later with a public ceremony at the Church of the Holy Spirit. Students wore purple ribbon decals and released purple balloons at a Cave Spring football game the day after she died.
Bayne, speaking at the Virginia Tech Relay for Life event in 2012 (the video is available on YouTube) said she had danced for 13 years, loved skiing and was “very active.” She fell one weekend during a ski trip in 2011 which was enough for her unknown tumor to start bleeding which a CT scan detected. “I was not expecting [that]. I didn’t think that would wind up being cancer,” said Bayne, who smiled as she told the story – one year into her 4-plus yearlong trial against cancer.
Bayne was told the tumor had been there for several years already without being detected. She went online to find out all about her disease. “The way I looked at it was you’re not going to get better with a bad attitude. There’s no other choice but to do all this [therapy].”
Bayne said she adopted the attitude that she would do “anything” to experience life fully after her diagnosis. The rare cancer led to visits at a number of hospitals and finally to Duke, where she had surgeries. “Things started looking better,” she said optimistically in 2012.
“I would have never thought I had cancer,” said Bayne. “Enjoy everything,” was her advice, “always have good days. I could be in a lot worse situation. Always have a good attitude.”
She met another teen from New Jersey who had survived the same cancer for more than a half dozen years; that buoyed her spirits. “I would say … we’re the same as you. We may have cancer but you can’t see that from the outside. Just come up and talk to us. I’m the same Kendall I was two years ago. I still want to talk to everyone.” Bayne talked to many people – lifting their spirits as well – before she lost her valiant and inspiring fight.
By Gene Marrano