Twin Cities Brain Tumor Walk Spotlights Survivors
On Saturday, the Twin Cities Brain Tumor Walk in Plymouth will shine the light on brain tumor survivors.
The 5K walk raises awareness and funds for those with brain tumors.
The featured speaker at the June 9th walk is a brain tumor survivor, but 16-year-old Aubrey King is also much like any other teenager.
“We just had prom like two weeks ago. I’m on the Chaska High School softball team,” says King.
King also drives, takes part in school musicals, and she enjoys art, especially drawing and painting.
Living with a Brain Tumor
Aubrey King is also living with a brain tumor.
“I’ve had a brain tumor since I was three years old,” says King. “I’ve had five surgeries. I have a brain tumor with no cure.”
King’s tumor is inoperable because it’s in her brain stem.
Previous surgeries have been used to debulk the tumor, manage fluid building up in the brain, and to place a shunt in her brain.
“I try not to let it affect my life. I try to live a pretty normal life,” says King.
However, King knows monitoring and managing her tumor is also part of her life, and she knows it could be worse.
“Brain tumors are the number one killer of children. And there are 129 different types of brain tumors, and that’s why research is so expensive,” says King.
On Saturday, King will share her story in Plymouth as the featured speaker at the Twin Cities Brain Tumor Walk. She hopes the event will call attention to the need for more funding for brain tumor research.
“When people think about giving money to cancer, they don’t think brain tumor necessarily. They think of all the other cancers,” says King.
King is living with a brain tumor, but she’s also a teenager looking forward to her senior year and the life ahead of her.
“I’m going to be applying to colleges next year and deciding where I’m going to college and what path I’m going to take with my life,”says King.
The Twin Cities Brain Tumor Walk takes place Saturday, June 9 at French Regional Park in Plymouth. Registration begins on-site at 9:00 a.m.
