By: Emma Comery Photos by: Lillian Reitz
Jackie Black was six years old when she hit her head on anbroak tree. She didn’t know it in that moment, but said oak tree would save herbrlife.
brbr
“I was playing hide-and-seek on the playground,” shebrremembers. “If I hadn’t bumped my head, we never would have known.” In 2006,brJackie’s mother picked her up from school and, fearing a concussion, took herbrto the pediatrician. The ensuing CAT scanbrrevealed a tumor the size of a grown man’s fist inside Jackie’s brain. It wasbrgrade three anaplastic astrocytoma, a rare form of brain cancer with no knownbrcause and no known cure.
brbr
Two major brain surgeries, 33 radiation treatments, andbreight years later, Jackie was finallybr– finally – declared cancer-free. “I wasbrin the kitchen when the doctors called my mom and I jumped out of my chair andbrstarted running around the table shouting, ‘No more cancer! No more cancer!’”
brbr
Yet, even as a child, Jackie recognized that the fight against brain cancer was not hersbralone. “I saw all these children in the hospital who were way worse off than me,” she recalls when thinking back tobrthe time leading up to Ready or Not Foundation. “It was horrific. That’s what made me want to start thebrfoundation.”
brbr
Before Jackie even entered remission, she and her motherbrfounded the Ready Or Not Foundation, a 501(c)3 non-profit dedicated to raisingbrawareness and funds for pediatric brain cancer research. For Jackie, it wasbrvital that 100 percent of every dollar contributed go directly to supportbrpediatric brain cancer research. To date, the foundation has raised over $2.2brmillion, and contributed every penny to the Glioma Research Project at TexasbrChildren’s Cancer Center in Houston.
brbr
As the foundation’s spokesperson, Jackie has directed itsbrvision, helped organize fundraising campaigns, and shared her story throughbrspeeches at countless events. “I used to get up on stage and be reallybrshy. Then, about two years ago, I madebrmy first really good speech. I present my story so that people can understand the realitybrof what people with brain cancer go through every day.”
brbr
At 20, Jackie is outgoing, stylish, and open-hearted. If youbrpassed her on the street, you might take her for a girl with a picture-perfectbrlife. You probably wouldn’t guess that she spent most of her childhood hookedbrup to an IV. You probably wouldn’t guess that she can’t feel hot or cold on thebrentire right side of her body.
brbr
Although the tumor that hijacked Jackie’s brain wasbrsuccessfully removed, it left its mark inbrthe form of long-term symptoms like PTSD, epilepsy, and short-term memory loss.br“I’m just like Dory,” she explains, citing everyone’s favorite forgetful fish from Finding Nemo. As for the seizures,brthey began in high school and often occur multiple times a day, lasting up to anbrhour and a half each time. “I’ve already had two today,” she says.br“Unimaginable” is the word that comes to mind.
brbr
Cancer’s long-term effects may be exhausting, annoying, andbrinconvenient as heck, but they aren’t stopping Jackie. She is currently pursuingbrher degree in music and working towards a career in opera. Her biggest goal,brhowever? “Finding a cure,” she says emphatically. Which is why she’ll soon stepbrup as director of the Ready Or Not Foundation. An unstoppable warrior, artist,brand advocate, she hopes to explore the world outside of Texas and effect changebrin cancer research on a global level.
brbr
Corpus will always be home for her, however. This is wherebrher family is, where her life-saving oak tree used to stand. “They cut downbrthat tree,” she remembers. “It’s a stump now. One day I’ll go back and sit onbrmy stump.”
brbr
Ready or Not Foundation
brbr
Best Dressed Style Show & Luncheon – September 19, 2019br|| Tickets available at readyornotfoundation.org
Photos taken on location at Bien Mérité
brbr
