Bailey Benson

One Bad A$$ Warrior

My name is Bailey, and this is my mom Sabrina. I was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) on September 14 2018. I’ve been undergoing treatment since then and am scheduled to finish my treatments on January 15th 2021. Here are some reflections about my journey, and why we Light The Night.

The biggest challenge for my mom in this journey has been the fact that she can’t fix me, she can’t take the cancer away. There’s so much unknown along the way, it’s been scary for everyone. Being a mom, she feels like it’s her job to make the problems go away for me, and not being able to do that makes her feel helpless. For me it’s been the loss of friendships that has been most difficult – as a young adult, some of my friends heard the word cancer and didn’t stick around. I was and still sometimes feel lonely and misunderstood, like there isn’t anyone I can talk to who understands.

At the same time it’s taught me to treasure the relationships I do have, including a girl who is just behind me with her treatments, allowing me to provide some mentoring and support to her – a connection that has given me purpose and meaning. There’s a lot of things that suck about cancer, as a girl, as a young adult: not being able to go to the movies, gym or grocery store, feeling like crap and trapped in cycles of medications (never feeling ‘normal’), not being able to plan for the future, not knowing when you’ll have a good or bad day, and losing your hair.

There are some silver linings though, including the relationship with my mom. I’ve become more lenient with her, I just couldn’t do things for myself some days and have needed to lean on her literally, and figuratively. My mom says that I’m fiercely independent and have been that way since early in my teenage years, but when I needed assistance simply getting up the stairs without falling backward, my mom was immediately there. And that support came from our community as well.


It was amazing to see how people have showed up since my diagnosis – neighbours across the street check in all the time, get groceries and whatever else we need. At the beginning there were SO MANY PIES! The School community provided gift cards, a local radio station sent us a basket of goodies, and friend show up to take me to appointments when my mom needed a (well deserved) break.

After seeing a Light The Night pamphlet, my mom declared that we would be participating together. Now, it’s part of us – we show up each year and it reminds me that I’m not alone, and it’s so nice to see others who have walked their own road alongside yet separate from mine. I am in awe of those who have reached the 5-year mark, and through Light The Night I can see so vividly just how connected we all are through this shared experience.

It’s easy for me to encourage others to join Light The Night – you show up, because you never know who is going to be impacted by cancer. It truly doesn’t discriminate. Each cause is important, and deserves the support, attention, time, and funds to change the outcomes for everyone affected.

My advice to others diagnosed with a blood cancer is know that you’re not alone, that it honestly will get better, and hold on to your positive attitude – allow yourself those bummer days, but don’t make every day those days. Believe in yourself and remember when you get through this, you are going to be one bad ass warrior.