In Memoriam of Annaleigh Grilo
On Sunday, August 23, 2020, Annaleigh Grilo lost her battle with Osteosarcoma. Annaleigh was a bright and shining light for all of us at The Merlin Mobility Foundation and to all who encountered her in her short, but monumental life. In honor of Annaleigh’s great contribution to our mission; we have renamed the accelerator for The Merlin Prize to The Annaleigh Grilo Venture Accelerator. Annaleigh, a 16-year-old girl exploring the world with her newfound freedom, was having the summer of her life: driving around with her friends, traveling to different states and countries, and participating in a five-week theatre intensive class. The summer of 2018 was like a dream, but what happened to her next turned into a nightmare.
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In the middle of the summer, she began to feel a sharp pain in her left leg. She thought perhaps she pulled a muscle while dancing or working out. But the pain significantly increased and, as a result, she had to quit these activities. By the beginning of August, the pain became unbearable; she couldn't walk, let alone sit, without sobbing in pain. This led to her mother rushing her to the emergency room. A simple x-ray taken in the ER shifted to an urgent helicopter flight to take her to Miami.
Annaleigh sat in the hospital bed unaware that amongst the cautious whispers and hushed results exchanged around her lay the secret that would convert this summer into a battle. The doctors discovered a malignant tumor. After multiple scans and a biopsy, Annaleigh left the Miami hospital with a full leg cast, chemotherapy running through her body, and a diagnosis of Osteosarcoma (a rare and aggressive bone cancer).
However, this overwhelming and alarming news only sparked Annaleigh’s desire to beat the cancer that invaded her life. During the weeks she was not in the hospital, she worked at home with a teacher to complete her school work, so she would not fall behind and eventually graduate with her friends in 2020, as she had always planned. Her school, Seacrest Country Day School, was extremely supportive of her and did all that they could to modify Annaleigh’s academic journey while they continued to provide a good education.
The following months consisted of a balancing act; Annaleigh attempted to hold onto the normal parts of junior year and adolescence, all while experiencing the abnormal life of an American teenager. After two months, she underwent surgery to remove the 11-inch tumor consuming her femur bone; however, the recovery process was a new battle in it of itself. It involved physical therapy sessions and relearning how to walk all while still getting treatment. After most of her junior year spent in a hospital bed, on April 11th, she had her last chemotherapy treatment and was officially pronounced cancer-free. The summer before senior year, Annaleigh worked extremely hard to finish her school work, study for the SAT, and attempt to bring back her dreamy summer days. The first months of her senior year were normal. She successfully applied to college and was making up for lost time with friends. She went back to Miami to get her routine check-up and scans when, once again, a tumor destroyed all the expectations of how she thought the year would go. A new tumor formed around her left knee.
She was immediately thrust back into chemotherapy and underwent a complete knee replacement. Unfortunately, the cancer was relentless. While she waited for the knee replacement to heal, four more tumors grew in Annaleigh’s leg and two new tumors appeared in her lungs. At this point Annaleigh’s leg was no longer salvageable. In January 2020, Annaleigh had her left leg amputated.
Since the amputation, Annaleigh, in addition to fighting the systemic cancer in her body, has also been adjusting to life as an amputee. In between chemo and immunotherapy treatments, she has been working with a prosthetist and just received a prosthetic leg. She will spend the next several months fighting cancer and learning how to walk with her new leg. Annaleigh graduated with her senior class in June 2020. She will attend Emory College of Arts and Sciences in the fall of 2021, where she will study neuroscience. Cancer and amputation were certainly not in Annaleigh’s plans, but she remains positive as she continues to fight the cancer every day.