Ten-year-old Glamorama Ambassador Alice has never wanted to be ordinary. She writes fan fiction about the Wings of Fire series, illustrates and animates dragons, sings, and even wrestles. So it didn’t surprise her mom, Erin, when Alice once said she wanted to be “rare.”

“We were walking to school, and she told me she wanted to be a rare person,” Erin said.

Just weeks later, a small lump on Alice’s neck revealed a rare thyroid cancer – a diagnosis seen in roughly one in 100,000 children. If Alice wasn’t rare before, she certainly is now.

A Rare Diagnosis

At first, the lump seemed easy to dismiss. Alice wasn’t in pain and showed no other symptoms. Erin mentioned it at Alice’s yearly checkup, but the pediatrician wasn’t concerned. Still, Erin brought it up anytime Alice saw a doctor for something minor, like a case of strep throat.

Nearly a year and a half later, Alice’s pediatrician was preparing to retire and suggested they finally have it checked.

After bouncing between specialists and additional tests, doctors confirmed a slow-growing thyroid cancer that had already spread to Alice’s lungs.“I remember the surgeon saying, 'I don’t want you to worry. We’re going to help her through this whole process,’” Erin said. “That should have been my first hint this was going to be a long journey. But in my mind, I still didn’t think cancer was even possible.”

Alice’s treatment began with surgery to remove her thyroid and any remaining cancer, including tissue near her vocal cords. For ten days afterward, she couldn’t speak – frightening for a girl who loves to sing and dreams of performing someday.

“I remember hearing her singing in the bath as her voice was just starting to come back,” Erin said. “It was like she hadn’t just gone through this horrible experience. She was still trying to sign and be joyful.”

After surgery, Alice went through radioactive iodine ablation, a treatment that required her to follow a strict low-iodine diet for several days, then swallow pills filled with radioactive iodine, which would be absorbed by and kill any remaining thyroid cells. The pills were quite large, and for a kid who had never so much as swallowed a Tylenol tablet, it was going to take some practice.

“We started with mini M&Ms and worked up to larger capsules filled with sprinkles,” Erin said. “She handled it like a champ.”

A New Treatment, Just In Time

In summer 2024, follow-up scans showed the treatment wasn’t working as well as doctors hoped. Genetic testing revealed a specific gene fusion making Alice’s cancer resistant to standard therapy – making her case even more uncommon.

Then, in fall 2024, a newly approved drug offered hope. The medication, designed to target that exact genetic change, was beginning clinical trials to study how quickly it worked.

Alice enrolled the following summer.

Just one month later, her scans showed the tumors on her lungs had nearly disappeared.

“They’re watching her really closely,” Erin said. “So far she’s tolerating everything well, but they’re monitoring her heart function and her growth since she’s still so young.”

Stories like Alice’s show why research matters. The therapy helping her today exists because scientists kept pushing forward – and continued discovery will ensure the next breakthrough is ready for the children who need it.

Being Rare, Her Own Way

In the meantime, Alice hasn’t let her treatment slow her down. In August 2025, she attended Children’s Cancer Research Fund’s Camp Norden, a camp for kids who have experienced cancer. During karaoke, Alice took the mic to perform a song from K-pop Demon Hunters, and you’d never know cancer treatment put her voice in jeopardy nearly two years earlier.

“I love her artistry and her creativity,” Erin says. “Alice does things the way she wants to do them, and she’s not afraid to stand out.”

When Alice once said she wanted to be rare, she couldn’t have known how meaningful that word would become. Today it represents more than a diagnosis – it shows up in her creativity, her courage, and her determination to keep shining.

And thanks to research, her story is still being written.

Join us at Glamorama

At Glamorama, every step on the runway helps power the discoveries that keep stories like Alice’s moving forward. See Alice’s imagination come to life May 15 at State Theatre. Tickets are on sale now on Ticketmaster.