Chrissy Turner, an 8-year-old girl from Utah, is the youngest ever to be diagnosed with a rare type of breast cancer. Her diagnosis quickly spread in the headlines garnering the interest of leading oncologists in the United States.
Now, the girl who dreamed of becoming to be a dragon rider when she grew up is in remission.
"It was the hardest thing we've ever gone through as a family," Chrissy's mom, Annette Turner, 43, told People in an exclusive interview. "But Chrissy is a fighter."
According to her GoFundMe page, Chrissy was diagnosed last October with an extremely rare form of breast cancer called Secretory Breast Carcinoma. The diagnosis came after her parents persisted to do an ultrasound on the lump under Chrissy's right nipple that was painful to touch.
Chrissy underwent mastectomy last December, removing her right breast. Her parents are glad to announce that Chrissy's cancer is in remission, but she still needs to undergo series of treatments and tests.
"We are eternally grateful to everyone," said Annette. "Everyone's support helped us get through this. People have been phenomenal. We've been helping Chrissy through this, one hug at a time."
The eight-year old girl is now a survivor of cancer, just like both of her parents. Chrissy's mom is a survivor of cervical cancer, while her dad Troy Turner, an equipment specialist at Hill Air Force Base, won his bout against Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma.
Secretory Breast Carcinoma is a rare but distinct subtype of breast carcinoma affecting only on in a million people, usually adult women. It is originally known as juvenile breast carcinoma that occurs in young children, but most reported cases were in adults of both sexes.
The number of children below 10-years of age diagnosed with cancer is deeply depressing. Just a few days ago, Vinny Desautels, a seven years old boy who grew his hair to donat to cancer patients, was diagnosed having an aggressive malignant mass on his eye.