LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Thousands of children are diagnosed with cancer each year. The National Cancer Institute said nearly 15,000 people 19 and under will be diagnosed with cancer this year alone.

What You Need To Know

  • Ashtyn Johnson was diagnosed with brain cancer when she was 5 years old

  • Her mother said she was worried that her cheerleading days were over 

  • She went through two surgeries to remove the tumor and four rounds of chemotherapy

  • Johnson, 12, has now been cancer-free for six years

Tumbling and cheerleading take a lot of practice, but it comes easy for 12-year-old Ashtyn Johnson, who has been tumbling since she was a 3-year-old.

“You get to learn new tricks, and it gets hard," she said. "But then it starts getting easier if you keep doing it." 

One practice turned her life upside down when she wasn’t feeling herself.

“I was having nausea and vomiting, so I know that those symptoms (meant) that something was wrong," Johnson said. 

At 5 years old, she was diagnosed with medulloblastoma, a form of brain cancer.

“First thing I thought was, 'This was it; this is all that we had ... only five years with her,'" said Kiara Richardson, Johnson's mother. "I didn't think that we had a chance, so I was devastated." 

Richardson said Johnson went through two surgeries to remove the tumor, then 33 rounds of radiation to her brain and spine, followed by four rounds of chemotherapy.

“Not fun because you have to be on all these IVs and you had to have feeding tubes," Johnson said. "It's just laying in the bed for a few hours." 

Johnson and her mother said they were worried that her cheering days could have been over. 

“We didn't know if with the trauma of everything, if she was going to ever be able to go back,” Richardson said.

By her sixth birthday, she received her final dose of chemo. Her next set of brain scans showed the tumor was gone. 

Johnson was in remission. 

“I felt so much joy because I knew that we had a second chance, and it just makes you appreciate all the things in life that you take for granted,” Richardson said. 

Not so long after, Johnson was back in the air, cheering with her friends.

“I was excited because I was free," Johnson said. "I can do everything that I love doing, and I just got to have my life back."

She has been cancer-free for the last six years.

Johnson gets brain scans once a year to make sure the cancer isn't coming back. Once she's 10 years cancer-free, she'll only have to get the scans once every five years. 

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