Life doesn’t always play fair—and few stories show that more clearly than Brianna Rawlings’. At just 18 years old and 17 weeks pregnant, the young Australian was diagnosed with a rare, aggressive form of blood cancer known as NK cell leukemia. At first, doctors mistook her symptoms for typical pregnancy side effects.
Brianna was given an impossible choice: start treatment and risk her baby’s life, or delay it and give her child a fighting chance. She chose her baby.
But complications soon followed. After developing a severe blood infection, doctors were forced to deliver her baby, Kyden, three months early via emergency C-section. Tragically, Kyden passed away after just 12 days. Despite her own failing health, Brianna cherished every precious moment she had with him, calling those days the happiest of her life.
Though she fought with everything she had, Brianna’s condition worsened. A planned bone marrow transplant was canceled, and a last-hope experimental treatment was started—but she only received two doses before the cancer took her life on December 29, 2018, just days after turning 19.
Brianna’s story is one of unimaginable courage and selfless love. She made the ultimate sacrifice for her child, and her legacy continues to inspire.
Please share her story—to honor her memory and to help raise awareness in the fight against cancer.