Baby Girl Rings ‘Cancer-Free’ Victory Bell Herself After Beating Brain Cancer Against the Odds

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Baby Lillian Grace Borden’s parents were overjoyed when she was born. However, when a nurse noticed that Lily was having trouble moving her limbs, what ensued were numerous tests, a devastating cancer diagnosis, and over three months of treatment.

However, on Jan. 25, 2020, the Borden family had something spectacular to celebrate; a video of baby Lily and her mother ringing the “cancer-free” victory bell has gone viral, and the two celebrated alongside netizens everywhere.

Lily was born on Sept. 5, 2019. “She was not distressed at birth,” Leann Borden, Lily’s mother, wrote on a GoFundMe page launched to help with the family’s medical bills. “We held her, she cried, we cried, all was right with the world.”

After Lily’s nurse noticed her limited mobility, however, an MRI identified an obstruction on the baby’s brain stem. Further testing was needed, but in the meantime, Lily was having trouble breathing. She was admitted to her hospital’s NICU to be fitted with breathing and feeding tubes.

“I’ve never wanted anything more in my life than to hear the word benign in my future,” Leann wrote on Facebook on Sept. 16. “She is so strong and already such a fighter.”

After a consultation with UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital in Oakland, California, Lily and her mother were rushed to Oakland from Nevada by air. The diagnosis was devastating: a tumor on the newborn baby’s brain stem.

“‘Your baby has brain cancer.’ As a parent, there is no way to prepare for those words,” Leann wrote on GoFundMe. “One minute you’re living your dream, the next minute, a doctor is telling you your beautiful angel you’ve waited your whole life for will likely die.”

Lily’s tumor was growing rapidly. Within days, it ran from her brain stem down the length of her spinal cord to below her shoulders. The Borden family was given a more specific, heartbreaking diagnosis: Lily had aggressive stage 3 to 4 malignant glioma.

The tumor, Lily’s doctors said, was “inoperable.” But the doctors conferred and decided that there was a speck of hope for Lily in trying a new, targeted chemotherapy for tumors.

They had to act fast. According to the Daily Mail, Lily began her treatment on Oct. 2, 2019.

On Nov. 13, Leann posted a heartfelt update on the family’s GoFundMe page. “I needed to take this moment to give it up to the Lord on this one,” she wrote. “I got on my hands and knees and never prayed so hard in my life.

“Lord I know you never give more than we can handle, but I can’t handle anymore,” Leann pleaded. “Be a believer or not. But when your back is against the wall and you’re facing death, or seeing your child facing death, there is no one left to turn to but the Lord.”

To the immense joy of everyone involved in baby Lily’s treatment, the targeted chemotherapy worked.

Just three weeks after beginning the treatment, Lily’s aggressive tumor was nowhere to be found. On Jan. 25, 2020, baby Lily was officially declared cancer free. “Everyone in the hospital is in shock,” Leann told ABC 7. “They say it’s magic; I say it’s faith.”

In celebration of Lily’s extraordinary recovery, the Bordens were invited to ring the hospital’s “victory bell.” As dad Patrick held Lily up, mom Leann helped her baby girl to grip the bell cord; together, mom and daughter rang the victory bell to announce Lily’s cancer-free status together.

“I want to thank Dr. Hastings for saving my baby,” the grateful mother said, addressing the gathered crowd through tears in footage shared by KTVU on Facebook.

“You guys are all incredible,” Leann added. “I’ve never met such amazing people in my whole life.”