CONTINUING COVERAGE
The Journal-News is the only local media source to bring you the story of Hamilton resident Kyleigh Wright and her courageous battle with cancer. Reporter Jay Morrison introduced readers to the Wright family in June, sharing how their struggle united them with Lauren Hill's family. Hill, who also died of brain cancer, was honored at Wednesday's ESPY Awards for her work raising awareness and funding for the research of pediatric brain cancer.
HOW TO DONATE
ONLINE: The Cure Starts Now Foundation Kyleigh Wright Heroes Page: thecurestartsnow.org/heroes
EVENT: Moose Benjamin Golf Outing with proceeds benefiting The Cure Starts Now Foundation
When: Sept. 26
Where: The Mill Course, 1515 W. Sharon Road, Cincinnati
To play or donate: Email Jason Ott at Jason.Ott@schawk.com
A December diagnosis of brain cancer seemed to rob Kyleigh Wright of so much that she enjoyed about life, including the thing she loved most – music.
But then the 14-year-old Hamilton girl with the Taylor Swift obsession dialed up her spunky, stubborn side and wrestled back her spirit for song from the clutches of cancer.
Although much of her body had shut down and she knew her time was short, Kyleigh worked with a music therapist to create a final gift for her friends and family. They taped Kyleigh singing Swift’s “The Best Day” and used her recorded heartbeat and those of her parents, Roger and Karen, as the backing track.
The song played at her standing-room-only funeral Thursday afternoon.
“She was always caring about others and other people’s feelings and she wanted to give us a piece of her when she didn’t really even have a piece to give,” Karen said.
Kyleigh died Sunday evening, just 215 days after her diagnosis.
Her laugh was a song in itself. It’s one of the things Karen said she thought she would miss most, but within hours of Kyleigh’s passing she realized she was wrong as some of Kyleigh’s friends began sharing videos they had taken on their phones of a bubbly, carefree teenager laughing, dancing and, of course, singing.
“After she got sick, she stopped listening to music and singing for awhile because her voice had gotten shaky and she said she didn’t sing good anymore,” Karen said. “I would still try to play music for her, and she would say, ‘No, I don’t want to hear it.’ It hurt me because her comfort had always been music.
“But a couple of months ago she started singing again, and she let me sing to her again,” Karen continued. “I would sing to her over and over again “You Are My Sunshine” or “You Are So Beautiful To Me” or I had made up songs for her when she was a baby and I would sing those over and over again and just stroke her head, and it was really her comfort and my comfort.”
While Karen and Roger knew about the final song Kyleigh recorded because they had to get hooked up to the machine to record their heartbeats, Kyleigh made sure to leave them with a surprise gift as well.
Unable to write or see and barely able to speak, Kyleigh struggled through the process of putting her thoughts into words so one of her nurses could write them down. A few days ago, Karen, Roger and Kyleigh’s older brother, Quentin, each opened their letter.
“Mine said, ‘Mom I love you so much and I don’t want you to be depressed when I die. I want you to keep going on,’” Karen said. “It was so touching to get that from her, but it hurt so bad. Knowing she was dying and still wanting to give those words to her mom and dad, it’s hard.”
Before she passed away Kyleigh was able to realize one of her lifelong dreams when she got to meet Taylor Swift prior to the singer’s concert in Louisville. She sang along with each song, and she continued to sing into the souvenir glow stick until she could no longer hold it.
A couple of weeks after the concert, the doctors told Karen that Kyleigh’s time was short, and Karen had the heartbreaking task of telling Kyleigh.
“She said, ‘I had so much I wanted to do with my life,’” Karen said. “She was so scared and upset and didn’t want to leave. But after a few days she got really peaceful and accepted it. She asked me if this was goodbye, and I told her, ‘It’s never goodbye. It’s just wait on me. I’ll be there, and I’ll see you later. It’s never goodbye.’”
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