BAYTOWN, Texas – 18-year-old Baytown native, Kaylyn White, is the newest volunteer at Houston-based animal rescue, Waiting Under the Willow Foundation.
Diagnosed with leukemia at the age of 12, she spent years in and out of the hospital enduring treatment and says the one thing that kept her spirits up was the time she spent with therapy dogs at MD Anderson.
“It was really hard at first with the chemo, and I felt really sick,” she said. “Then people started bringing these dogs up and there was something about the dogs that made you feel like you were fine. They’d snuggle you and some wouldn’t want to leave your side.”
Kaylyn’s Mom, Lesley, says she noticed an immediate change in her daughter. Although there were extremely hard days, the pets that visited made her weekends brighter.
“It was the only sense of normalcy that we had,” she said.
Kaylyn went through rounds of treatment, including chemo, radiation, CAR T-cell therapy and complications from a stem cell transplant. She also needed a knee transplant and a bilateral hip replacement due to the steroids used in treatment, and uses a wheelchair while she rehabs to regain mobility. Her mission now that she’s in remission is to pay forward the love she felt from companion animals during her darkest days in the hospital.
“There were animals that helped me in my time of need, and I want to help the ones that need it in their time of need,” Kaylyn said.
But the search to find volunteer work hasn’t been easy.
“I go apply to volunteer at one place, never hear back. It’s really hard to find a job after what you’ve been through with the appointments and your limitations. People don’t want somebody who can’t be there all the time to work for them.”
That’s where Angelique Strickler comes in. She’s the founder of Waiting Under the Willow Foundation, which is expanding its brick and mortar rescue to help more animals in need. In a chance meeting with Kaylyn’s Mom at a dinner one night, she heard about the trouble Kaylyn was having finding a place where she could give back.
“We were just visiting and she started telling me about her daughter and I thought, you know, she would do great at our facility. It’s small, she could be in the yard. We have dogs that are just so scared of human interaction, and some are just scared to be in the yard alone, so to have someone out there to give them love and affection I thought, she’d be perfect for that.”
Kaylyn is now volunteering every week at the rescue facility, and says she has found purpose in giving back. Her Mom says she couldn’t be prouder.
“I’m excited for her and the dogs, and just this whole opportunity.”
If you’d like to learn more about Kaylyn’s journey and her advocacy for greater childhood cancer awareness, you can follow her on Facebook and Instagram at KayStrong. For more information on Waiting Under the Willow Foundation, visit wuwfrescue.org.