HAMILTON, Ohio — A young girl from Hamilton is beating the odds after she survived COVID-19 and brain cancer. 

What You Need To Know

  • Naomi Short, 10, has been battling brain cancer since 2018. She was told she wouldn’t survive

  • After nine brain surgeries, chemotherapy and a COVID-19 infection during treatment, Naomi’s parents said the brain cancer is gone

  • Naomi is now learning how to walk again and with the encouragement of her family and friends, she said she’s getting stronger every day

Naomi Short, 10, survived what could have killed her at a young age. 

“After I got through all the hard stuff, it felt really good,” said Short.

It all started in 2018, when she was diagnosed with brain cancer. About a year later, her parents told Spectrum News 1 that radiation treatment wasn’t working. They were preparing for the worst.

“They told us she’d have a 30% chance of surviving,” said Naomi’s mother, Melissa Short. “We didn’t have time to sit and process everything, it was either you fight or you don’t."

Her parents chose to fight to keep Naomi alive. She ended up having nine brain surgeries and multiple chemotherapy treatments to remove the tumors.

The treatments left her sick, bedridden and her parents worried her fragile state would get worse. 

“When you add on the extra germs that, for most people, is no big deal, could really cripple her if not kill her,” said Melissa Short.

Her parents stopped working to become full-time caregivers for Naomi and keep her from getting sick, but she still tested positive for covid while fighting cancer.

Somehow, with the odds stacked against her, she got through covid and made it through cancer treatments. 

“She’s cancer free in her brain, but there’s still a couple spots on her spine that we’re watching,” said Melissa Short.

It wasn’t long before Naomi started walking again. Her parents called it a miracle. 

“I cried, but it was a happy cry, though,” said Melissa Short.

Naomi just calls it Naomi-strong. 

“My parents encouraging me and making me laugh and once everyone else started, you know, just telling me how beautiful I am, encouraging me, I just realized, I’m stronger than I thought,” said Naomi.

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