Mackenzie

Mackenzie's Story

On June 10, 2016, Mackenzie was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) after having symptoms such as bruising and feeling fatigued and jaundiced. To make matters worse, Mackenzie’s doctors discovered she had a specific type of AML called FLT-3, one of the more aggressive and high-risk forms of leukemia. She spent the next seven months in the hospital as her body had a tough time recovering from each round of chemo. In addition to the chemo, she eventually had a bone marrow transplant. Stem cells were given to her by her mother, who was a partial match after two donors that were perfect matches backed out.

Despite her uphill battle, Mackenzie stayed positive and enjoyed many aspects of the Children’s hospital in Oklahoma City. She even had no evidence of disease about eight months after her diagnosis, and she only had to do routine maintenance therapy and short hospital stays, on and off again.

After feeling like she was finally getting her life back, routine blood work showed that Mackenzie had relapsed. The months following were tough, but we made the most out of the time together by doing “bucket list” activities with her and making as many memories as possible. Mackenzie rode in a helicopter, a hot air balloon, went on her first date, learned to drive a car (at just 11 years old), and baked and sold cupcakes at a local bakery. She traveled to Los Angeles for her Make-a-Wish trip with all of her family and attended an OU football game as a VIP, where she met Baker Mayfield. He later dedicated the season to her and spoke at her funeral.

Despite aggressive treatment, Mackenzie passed away on December 7, 2017, with her parents by her side. In her memory, her dad and step-mom created The Mack Impact, an organization that gives special experiences to children with cancer.

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