Tony and Ryann May were only 23 years old then they heard the words, “Your baby has cancer.”

“We were babies ourselves,” Ryann said. “We were just beginning to be parents and our whole life changed with those few words.

Hadley May was only nine months old when she was diagnosed with a form of muscle cancer.

“Actually Hadley was born with the cancer, and it’s very rare for a baby to be born with cancer,” Ryann said. “When Hadley was born, a nurse noticed a lump on her elbow and we were told to see an orthopedic doctor. He thought it was a collection of blood vessels and it would shrink. When we went back in six months, the lump had not shrunk. It took about a month of testing before we were told that Hadley had cancer.”

The young parents were shocked at the news and scared.

“We’d never been that scared in our lives,” Ryann said. “We didn’t know what to do or how to do.”

At age one, Hadley’s right arm was amputated and she received chemotherapy treatments in hopes of ridding her little body of the disease called cancer.

Hadley’s cancer went into remission but came back in less than a year.

“The cancer had spread to Hadley’s lungs,” Ryann said. “She was given radiation and chemo it didn’t help. We lost our little girl when she was only 3 years old.”

Through it all, Tony and Ryann May held to the hope that Hadley would be cured.

And, they were lifted up by the love and caring of family, friends and community.

“We live in a great town and in a great county,” Ryann said. “We’ll never forget the love and support that we received – Hadley and us. The love of people and the love of Jesus carried us through.”

Although there was no way that the Mays could thank those who uplifted and then held them up during those three trying years, Tony and Ryann wanted to do something in return. They organized the Hadley May Foundation that provides assistance to families of children who are diagnosed with cancer.

“The foundation is primarily for families in Pike County,” Ryan aid. “The Hadley May Foundation is not a big foundation with lots of money but we want to help families any way we can. There are expenses that insurance doesn’t cover – travel, food, lodging and co-pays, sometimes two or three times a week, it adds up to a lot.”

Ryann said most often one parent has to quit work and then there’s the loss of income.

“We just want to help others because people were so good to us,” she said.

The Mays are blessed to have two sons, Cade, 8, and Carter, 7.

“We always knew that we wanted more children. We love being parents. Hadley died 10 years ago. Losing her was hard but we wouldn’t take anything for having her.  We know where she is and that we’ll see her again. We were blessed to have her and we are blessed to have Cade and Carter. They are our sunshine. They brought light back into our lives.”