The best way to start the tournament! 🦋 #PatientChampion Reese Shirey took the 2026 First Shot to Fight Cancer this morning to officially tee off the 20th annual Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship! Reese was just ten years old when her world changed. On February 15, 2019, she was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, beginning a two-and-a-half-year journey. The first 28 days of treatment brought intense chemotherapy and equally intense side effects. Early in her journey, Reese experienced bleeding in her brain, the wall of her gallbladder thickened, and a massive seizure that led to a code blue. In the aftermath, she developed Mucormycosis, a rare and aggressive fungal infection. Her care team at Nationwide Children’s Hospital acted immediately, calling for emergency surgery the next morning. Surgeons removed a third of her lung to save her life. Reese spent 53 days in the hospital during that initial phase of treatment. Throughout her journey, she endured numerous b...