Sophia’s story is a message of hope and battling on.
Sophia Bowling is six years old and currently attends Harold McCormick in Elizabethton, and right out of the gate, she’s been proven to be a fighter, according to her mother, Kristina.

The youth was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia at the age of two years old. Since October 2014, her cancer has been in remission, but Kristina added her daughter has developed osteoporosis and asthma.
But throughout the years, you wouldn’t catch Sophia without her smile.
“She’s been wonderful,” Kristina said about her daughter’s attitude. “She’s grown up around it. She just knew that she’d get gifts from time to time.”
While the cancer is in remission, Sophia continually goes through treatment, her mother added. Along with chemo, Sophia travels to St. Jude’s every two months for blood work and also goes through bone density scans and MRIs.
During the trips and stays, Kristina said that she and her husband, Chris, had nothing but thanks for St. Jude’s for their work with children. The facility paid for their travels and other medical expenses to help make life a bit easier during the treatments.
The Bowling family does their own part to support St. Jude’s by participating in the annual Tri-Cities St. Jude’s walk, which was held this year in Bristol at the Pinnacle.
This year’s group for Sophia, typically featuring her family, saw over a baker’s dozen worth of supporters stop by to show support.
“This year, we had teachers from Harold McCormick join the walk,” Kristina said. “They contacted us over Facebook. We’re very appreciative of them coming out. We alone had 24 teachers do the walk.”
And overall the recent benefit run for St. Jude’s raised approximately $111,000 to help children, like Sophia.
Providing an inspirational note for families around the area is one of the positives to take from Sophia’s story, Kristina said.
According to the National Cancer Institute, an estimated 10,389 new cases of cancer will be diagnosed among children from birth to 14 years in the United States alone in 2016.
The Bowling family knows the road still has its fair share of hurdles ahead, but hope that Sophia’s story can provide a form of inspiration for other families battling with their children through cancer.
“People think once you’re in remission, it’s over, but it’s not,” her mother said.“Chemo does damage to a person, sometimes you don’t know what the side effects will be. Childhood cancer is not rare. You don’t think about it until it’s your child. It can be rough, but we want people to know that they are not alone.”