‘I fought childhood cancer, now I’m 14 and helping other kids in their fight’

“I know there are side effects of cancer treatments that children must deal with for the rest of their lives,” Elana shares. 

Elana Koenig was only a child when she began feeling immense pain in her lower hip. 

The year was 2016, and the young New Yorker was limping around the house before her parents took action. 

In July of that same year, Elana was diagnosed with Ewing Sarcoma, a rare and aggressive form of cancer found on the top of her femur (upper thigh). 

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Elana was diagnosed with an aggressive cancer in 2016. Source: Koenig Childhood Cancer Foundation

Elana realised other kids were going through the torture of cancer

For a year-and-a-half, she underwent 15 surgeries and nine rounds of intensive chemotherapy in New York City’s Memorial Hospital. 

“I thought it was a death sentence,” the now-14-year-old’s mum, Rena, told People.

When Elena finished her treatment and was officially cancer-free, she “realised that other children are going through the torture that had just ended for me.” 

So she founded the Koenig Childhood Cancer Foundation, dedicated to raising funds to help other kids get the support they need. 

“That's such a horrible thing to go through as a kid,” Elana recalled. It has quickly become her life’s work to help other kids desperately needing help.

“I know what it feels like to be sinking into a deep dark hole of needles, medicine, and surgeries,” she said. “I also know that there are side effects of these treatments that children must deal with for the rest of their lives.”

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She began by raising $5,000 to help a friend buy a laser cap to help her regain her hair after losing it during chemotherapy. 

“When families come to us, we pick at least one problem and resolve it for the family so they can focus on their child,” Rena explained. “We customise what we help with for each individual family.” 

The foundation also paid for a family’s mortgage for several months while their child was battling cancer. They also raised money to buy a teenager a wheelchair lift for the family car. 

“The kid is 16 years old, and he's going to be in a wheelchair for the rest of his life, and dad is not able to carry him any longer, so we helped with the lift for the car,” said Rena. 

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Elana and Mark, who fled Ukraine in 2022 and was treated for a brain tumour in New York City. Source: Koenig Childhood Cancer Foundation

“When you talk to them, that's it. You can't say no. You want to make it happen”

In March 2022, a man from Ukraine, Demytro, reached out to Elana on social media. His two-year-old son, Mark, was battling an aggressive brain tumour and needed help. 

The toddler was scheduled to have the seven-centimetre tumour removed on February 25 2022. 

But the day before, Russian officials invaded the Ukrainian capital Kyiv - the location where Mark was supposed to have his surgery. 

The family fled Kyiv and escaped to Uzhhorod, a Ukrainian city on the Slovakian border. There he had surgery to remove the tumour, but doctors could not treat him any further. 

“Being in the basement of a building under bombardment was extremely stressful and frightening, particularly while trying to care for Mark,” Demytro told People. 

“The most terrifying thing was we did not know what to do, where to go, and how to help our son with treatment, as all Ukrainian hospitals were closed.”

After reading Demytro’s message, Elana and her mum were instantly “in love” with the little boy. 

“When you talk to them, that's it. You can't say no. You want to make it happen. And we were like, ‘We are not going to stand back. We are not going to back off. We are going to fight for them.’”

The foundation helped the family flee Ukraine and helped him access treatment at New York City Memorial Hospital - where Elana had won her cancer battle six years earlier. 

“The Koenigs were there with us in every step of it, and we knew that we were in medically good hands,” Mark’s dad said. 

“Today, we are thrilled to say that Mark has been cancer free for more than a year! He is a happy boy. We are grateful for every moment that Mark is with us.”

Originally published as ‘I fought childhood cancer, now I’m 14 and helping other kids in their fight’