Hi there! I am Mandy Avelar, and I am the mother of Ayla Avelar. Ayla is a 16-year-old from Seymour in Indiana. Her story is a completely devastating one. Ayla had a normal teenage life before being diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia. A few months back, she started to feel bad. Leukemia mimics flu-like symptoms. She was having shortness of breath, getting dizzy, and her heartbeat was very rapid. She stayed home from school, and when she did go to school, she went down to the nurse. The nurse then called me to come and take her to the ER because her vitals were going crazy. They were too high. So, I took her to see her doctor. The doctor ordered lab work done. The next day, the doctor called me and told me to take her to the ER to maybe get a blood transfusion. The ER doctor did some blood work of his own, and the results came back saying her blood levels were lower than normal. He was going to transfer her to Riley Hospital in Indianapolis. The most probable cause of her levels being that low was leukemia. So, he made the transfer to Riley because Riley had better treatment if she had it. We came to the hospital on December 06, 2025. After talking to the ER doctor at Riley, she moved Ayla to be inpatient on the cancer floor. The cancer doctor came around the next day and said that they did have a name for her condition: AML. Ayla has cancer of the blood and bone marrow. She will get a central line put in her chest so they can easily draw blood from it and do her chemotherapy treatments.

There are different types of leukemia. The cancer that Ayla has is rare and also aggressive. It rapidly grows. The chemo treatments they induce on her are intense and aggressive. She has treatment done every day for 7 days this cycle. Then they will stop her chemo and just wait for her blood counts to go back up again. She will have to repeat this process for 4-6 months. She has to stay in the hospital for a month at a time until she goes into remission. I am setting up a fundraiser for her to anyone who would like to donate to her. It will be used to get whatever she wants or needs. She is our little trooper. She is so beautiful inside and out. I couldn't ask for a better daughter than her. She really is America's sweetheart. Thank you all. It will be very appreciated. May God bless you all.