A moving photograph that showed strength and community in the face of adversity, now has another message to share -- triumph.
Earlier this year, this touching image of three young girls who were all battling cancer went viral. In it, the children hold one another and draw strength from each other. Now, all three girls are cancer-free or in remission, according to their Facebook pages.
The emotive photo, showing the girls aged 3, 6, and 4, was taken by Oklahoma-based photographer Lora Scantling. The image has the caption, "Sometimes strength comes in knowing that you are not alone!" and the girls, who didn't know one another before the photo shoot, have since become close friends.
When it was taken four months ago, Rylie, on the far left, had just beaten stage five kidney cancer, Rheann, in the middle, had brain cancer and Ainsley, on the right, was in remission from leukemia.
"For those of you just joining us on Rheann's page I can say that Rylie, Ainsley, and Rheann are now in remission!!!" reads a post on Rheann's Facebook page. "Rheann was just declared in remission very recently and as of her last MRI (on July 2nd) she is STILL clear!"
The good news comes more than a year after doctors told Rheann's family to prepare for the worst, Yahoo News reported. The 6-year-old, who stands in the center of the photo, had a rare form of the disease, called mucoid spindle sarcoma but can now join the other two girls in celebrating. Since Rheann's diagnosis in 2012, she has undergone five brain surgeries, chemotherapy and proton radiation.
"The doctors didn’t think she would make it through last summer," her mother, Valerie Franklin, told Yahoo, "but she sure proved them wrong."
Just look at these courageous fighters now:
Congratulations, girls!
To see more of Lora Scantling's photography, visit her website or Facebook page.
Related
Before You Go
