Family to host 5K to raise funds for ill children

Waterleigh teenager Savannah Emery was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia in October 2025, the same day her brother celebrated his birthday. 

It all began with a cyst. 

What she didn’t know is this cyst would be the reason her leukemia was found. 

The 14-year-old began her freshman year at Horizon High School in August and was getting ready to try out for her school’s volleyball team. 

She found a cyst under her arm and went to the doctor to get it drained to alleviate the pain for tryouts. 

However, because her younger sister has a blood disorder, the doctor ordered a blood test — just to ensure nothing else was going on. 

That’s how her pediatrician discovered cancer in her blood and bone marrow. 

“She had no symptoms,” Cherrie Emery, Savannah’s mother said. 

If it weren’t for that cyst, she could be living with cancer without even knowing it.

According to the Rally Foundation, there are only about 500 acute myeloid leukemia cases in children per year in the United States.

She was immediately admitted to the hospital and had surgery a few days later. 

Since her diagnosis, she has spent more time at the hospital than at home. 

“I’m trying to focus on getting better more than being upset about it, ‘cause it’s no one’s fault,” Savannah said. “It’s not my fault. It’s not my mom’s fault, not the doctor’s fault… It happens to people.” 

Knowing everything she has been through since her diagnosis, Savannah and her family want to help other children with leukemia with Savannah’s 5K Walk/Run/Roll Saturday, Feb. 21, at Waterleigh Amenity Field.

Home away from home 

Because of her severe diagnosis, she was admitted to Orlando Health Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children, where she spends most of her days. 

To make her feel at home, family, friends, nurses and doctors decorated the walls in her room for each and every holiday spent in there, leaving sweet and encouraging messages to remind her she is stronger than the leukemia. 

“We just try to fill it up so it’s not just hospital walls, you know?” Cherrie Emery said. “We’ve decked (the room) out for Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year, and now, for Valentine’s Day.” 

And while she spends most of her time in the hospital room, she still completes school work daily. 

She calls her friends on a daily basis. 

She plays Roblox. 

She visits Sephora and Ulta to buy makeup. 

She paints. 

She does all the things a regular teenager does. 

And more than just living a normal life, she created new lifelong friends and learned lessons for a lifetime. 

“I took things for granted, like spending time with family, friends, school,” Savannah said. “I hear someone say, ‘I hate going to school,’ and I’m like, ‘I can’t even go to school,’ but it’s like, at one point, I was saying that too … You need to appreciate things more because it can be taken away in a second.” 

She said accepting her diagnosis was difficult, but she realized nothing was really changing. 

“None of my friends changed because of hair (loss),” she said. “Because friendships aren’t made on how you look or on whatever you’re going through. They should support you, not judge you. It’s something ... that didn’t change how I acted, it just changed how I looked, which shouldn’t matter anyway.” 

Run, walk and roll for leukemia 

Savannah and her family are very loved in their community. 

When her neighbors found out she was diagnosed with leukemia, they reached out to Cherrie Emery and offered to do a 5K in Savannah’s honor; something they all partake in often. 

By raising money through a 5K, they hope to be able to help other children going through the same thing. 

During her stay in the hospital, Savannah saw multiple children come and go. 

She’s made it her mission to give gifts to them, helping them feel at home, just like others helped her. 

She began questioning how she could raise more funds beyond just the 5K and decided to sell her own artwork at the event. 

“We do a lot of artwork, like the painting, the diamond art, that’s what we do to pass a lot of time,” Cherrie Emery said. “So we have like 25 pieces because what else is there to do, you know? And so we’re gonna auction that. All those proceeds also will come back. So, hopefully, whether it’s money that comes back or is somebody donating blood, it’s something.” 

While people might think the 5K is to help Savannah’s treatment, it’s actually to help all the children who come after her. 

“We were given so much, and she fought so hard, and that’s the only way we can think of to say thank you,” Cherrie Emery said.  

Savannah underwent her last chemo treatment Thursday, Jan. 29, and now is in “deep remission.”

Savannah’s story will serve as a teaching moment for many attendees, by having them learn the different types of leukemia and how they can help. 

She said she hopes this 5K is able to educate people and inspire them to donate blood. 

One Blood will be at the race to take blood donations and National Marrow Donor Program will be there to take cheek swabs to match attendees with patients in need of bone marrow transplants. 

There also will be a DJ, food and refreshments from different local vendors, — including Starbucks and Kelly’s Ice Cream — mental health support and resources, interactive art and more. 

Savannah is the only one that will really know what leukemia felt like, but others can help by becoming educated, swabbing and donating blood. 

“She’s our stallion,” her mom said. “Even before (getting diagnosed) we used to call her ‘The Stallion.’ She got sick and then she was solid. She recovers quickly.”