REIDSVILLE, N.C. — Six-year-old Leigha Davenport of Reidsville loves to stay active. Whether that’s making arts and crafts or playing with her Baby Yoda.
“She has a lot of hidden talents here and there,” Mother Millinda Davenport said. “Last night Leigha told me she’s interested in opening up a restaurant. She wants to be a cook.”
Some days, Leigha just wants to rest. Her mother said the family noticed a change in her daughter’s behavior over the summer.
“With it being summer, we’re like Leigha, ‘Why aren’t you playing outside?’” Davenport said. “ 'Why don’t you go outside and play?’ She kept saying, well my leg kind of hurts, but we didn’t notice anything physical.”
Davenport said she eventually took her daughter to the doctor. She said she was told it was just growing pains, but on July 4 she knew something was wrong.
“We noticed Leigha really starting to limp and not really enjoying herself,” Davenport said. “You could see she wanted to keep up and keep playing with the other kids, but it just wasn’t working out.”
The family went back to the hospital. That’s when doctors confirmed Leigha had Osteosarcoma. Osteosarcoma is an aggressive form of bone cancer. Now, she’s undergoing chemo and is bound to a wheelchair for the next nine to 12 months.
“I would definitely say it’s literally watching your heartbreak over and over again, and you don’t know what to do to fix that,” Davenport said.
Davenport hopes her daughter’s story can be a light to other families.
“Pay attention to your children,” Davenport said. “it may not be cancer, but it’s not just growing pains.”
The family has a GoFundMe to help with Leigha’s medical expenses.