Champion Spotlight
Learn about some of our Champions and their stories.
Ava
Favorite Color: Pink
Favorite Hobby: Gymnastics
What she wants to be when she grows up: A Doctor
Ava was diagnosed with Intermediate Risk Neuroblastoma at 2 1/2 years old. After four months of chemotherapy and total resection surgery, Ava has been cancer free since July 2023! She is now 5 years old and is loving Pre-K and all the friends she has made this school year! We are so excited to see what the future holds for her! Ava’s bravery and strength will forever amaze us all!
McKinley
Our daughter McKinley was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) on June 27, 2022 at the age of 7 years old. She received 5 long rounds of chemo and was in remission for ~6 months and then had a relapse in October of 2023. After additional rounds of chemo, she was able to get back in remission and received a bone marrow transplant (cord blood donation) in January 2024. We are so thankful for this life giving gift that she has received and praying her body continues to love these new cells! She is enjoying being back at home with her 3 siblings and enjoying new hobbies of sewing and roller blading. Our favorite Bible verse has been Colossians 1:17, which says “He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.” There have been so many things out of our control that we have had to pray and trust the Lord and know He would give us the strength each day to walk this journey. Jesus has been our foundation along the ups and downs of this journey. We are thankful for each and everyday and the gift of her life and health.
Favorite Color: Blue or Purple
Favorite Hobby: Sewing and reading
What she wants to be when she grows up: Be an author and own a bakery with her sister, Madison
Luke
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Favorite Color: Red and Black
Favorite team: The Ohio State Buckeyes
What he wants to do when he grows up: Something that will allow him to travel and be around people!
Luke was diagnosed with stage 3C spitzoid melanoma in December 2020 at the age of five after an elective surgery to remove a growth from his face. After his diagnosis, Luke underwent a significant surgical procedure that required facial reconstruction along with one year of immunotherapy treatments. He has been cancer-free since February 2022. Luke is now ten years old and enjoys playing sports, video games, riding his bike, and attending Buckeye football games. We are incredibly proud of Luke's bravery, faith, and resilience amidst the adversity he has faced. He has let his light shine despite the darkness a cancer diagnosis can bring (Matthew 5:16).
Hanna Paribello
Hanna is the child who inspired the CancerFree KIDS Butterfly Walk.
She passed away from neuroblastoma on June 18, 2006, at the age of 3. In 2007, her family started the Butterfly Walk with one heartfelt mission: to honor their daughter, and to create something beautiful and lasting out of an incredibly difficult journey. They wanted to make sure that her light would never fade, and that her spirit could live on in a way that would help others, inspire hope, and pave the way for something greater. They created the Butterfly Walk & Family Fun Festival: a day where families could come together to celebrate life, raise critical funds for pediatric cancer research, and give kids a chance to just be kids: to run, laugh, play, and feel free, if only for a while. What started as a local event in Deerfield Township, has grown into something far beyond what they imagined.
Hanna's 23rd birthday would be this year on May 14, 2026. Her family feels her spirit around them every day, and they cherish all of the enduring support and friendship from the families and children they have met throughout the years.
Erika
2026 Butterfly Walk Champion
In 2024, Erika was diagnosed at age 21 with Desmo Plastic Small Round Cell tumors in her abdomen. When she was first diagnosed, she started to crochet. She makes all kinds of plushies and gives them away for free, spreading light and joy to others in the hospital and everywhere she goes. She graduates this May with a bachelor's of science and chemistry from Hanover College.
Little Miami Gold Families
2026 Butterfly Walk Champions
The Little Miami Gold Family Butterfly Walk Team is bringing together 10 families from the Little Miami Community who have been impacted by childhood cancer. They are honoring: Logan, Madison, Hannah, Drew, Andrew, Myles, Lanie, Henry, Alex, and Danielle.
This community was started by the family of Jess Voge, who was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia in 2016 when she was in 6th grade. During her treatment, the Little Miami community rallied around Jess and her family offering love, much needed support, and encouragement.
Inspired by that experience and believing that other families deserved the same kind of support, the Voge family organized the Little Miami Gold Families Group in 2023, and they continue to walk alongside Little Miami families navigating the challenges of childhood cancer while bringing awareness about childhood cancer to their community.
Ruby
2026 Butterfly Walk Champion
Ruby was 4 years old when she was diagnosed with Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia on July 7, 2024. She's currently in the maintenance mode of her treatment. Ruby’s favorite color is pink, and she loves to wear pretty dresses and twirl around the room when she dances.
Ruby has already found a meaningful way to help spread the word about the Butterfly Walk—she came up with the idea to create postcards about the event to pass out to her friends and family, inviting them to join her and support CancerFree KIDS.
Ruby wasn't able to participate in the Butterfly Walk in 2025 with her intense treatment, which makes this year even more special. We are so excited to see Ruby—dressed, dancing, and sharing her joy—at the walk this year.