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Lasure tumbling at Cobra Cheer. Lasure is trying to regain her strength to be a competitive cheerleader again in the Plains, Ohio on October 13, 2016.

Photos: Cheering Again: Amanda Lasure moving forward


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Amanda Lasure’s life revolves around cheer practice. She is a 14-year-old girl who lives in Millfield, Ohio. Twice a week she practices with her high school Junior Varsity team in Athens, Ohio, and every Thursday she practices at Cobra Cheer. On March 21, 2016 her mother and father, David and Kathleen Lasure, took her to Nationwide Children’s Hospital due to a lump on her neck. She was admitted that day and had a biopsy. Two days later,  Amanda was diagnosed with Stage 4 Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. She is a typical high school girl; however, she is in remission and has beat the odds of survival. Childhood cancer is the number one cause of death for U.S. children, according to the National Cancer institute, “Although cancer in children is rare, it is the leading cause of death by disease past infancy among children in the United States. In 2014, it is estimated that 15,780 children and adolescents ages 0 to 19 years will be diagnosed with cancer and 1,960 will die of the disease in the United States.” Amanda is now trying to regain her strength to become a varsity and competitive cheerleader again.

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Lasure waiting for the doctor to come in and look at her ankle after she hurt it during cheer practice in Athens, Ohio on November 15, 2016.  (Carolyn Rogers/WOUB)

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Lasure posing for a portrait. When Amanda started the 2016-2017 school year she had very little hair compared to now. (Carolyn Rogers WOUB)
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Lasure wearing her Athens Cheer Shirt while at her Junior Varsity practice in Athens High School in Athens, Ohio on November 29, 2016. (Carolyn Rogers/ WOUB)
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Lasure tumbling at Cobra Cheer in The Plains, Ohio. Lasure is trying to regain her strength to be a competitive cheerleader again.  (Carolyn Rogers/WOUB)
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Athens high school JV cheer team from left to right, Alison Mingus, Maddie Russell, Amanda Laure, Sonia Keesey, Sierra Spears, and Sydney Dicken, along with their coach Heather Clemonish, in Athens, Ohio on November 29, 2016. (Carolyn Rogers/ WOUB)
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The last ornament Amanda’s mother hung was the Bell Nation Wide Children’s Hospital gave to Amanda as a gift after she wrung the bell. The bell is a symbol of being cancer free. (Carolyn Rogers/WOUB)