Mallory Brodnik turns grief into cancer research funding through basketball
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Mallory Brodnik lost her sister to cancer at a young age, but she turned her grief into something positive. She not only is raising money for pediatric cancer research but is also dedicating her life to research.
"She was a spitfire, for sure," Brodnik said. "She was diagnosed when she was 13. She was going through treatment. She lost her hair, she lost a ton of weight."
Brodnik's younger sister Kelly fought fiercely battling osteosarcoma, a rare form of bone cancer.
"She had her knee and part of her femur removed and replaced with titanium," Brodnik said. "She had to learn to walk again. And through all these things, she never really lost who she was. She was extremely sarcastic, like always making jokes."
Kelly died at the age of 15 in 2018.
Brodnik wanted to honor her sister's spirit and determination, so she partnered with Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation.
"I was looking for a way to stay involved in the cancer community, raise money," Brodnik said.
So she found a way to raise funds by doing something she loves: playing basketball.
"For every point I scored, people were able to pledge a certain amount of money," Brodnik said. "It got picked up by a local news source and then another local news source, and then all of a sudden, random people from all over the country were donating."
She started with the foundation's Champion Program while on her high school team and was so successful she did it again, this season as a senior at the University of Chicago, where she plays on the women's basketball team.
Each of the team's made free throws raise money.
"I think it's close to $100,000 over the past five years," Brodnik said, "which is amazing and definitely due to the community around me."
Brodnik's commitment doesn't end there.
As part of the foundation's pediatric oncology student training program, she did oncology research with a mentor at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.
"I was like I have this amazing opportunity through Alex's Lemonade Stand," Brodnik said, "and I feel like I owe it to my sister to try research, even though I think I'll hate it and I'm still doing it three years later."
Turns out, she loves it.
"I actually just won a Fulbright Award to do research in Germany for a year," Brodnik said.
She plans to become a pediatric oncology nurse.
And Kelly's presence will be with her every step of the way.
"She definitely was and is one of my best friends," Brodnik said.
