PEORIA (25News Now) - A Central Illinois beauty queen is celebrating being cancer-free for the second time.
She was first diagnosed at 14 years old and was in remission for a couple of years before the cancer returned in the fall.
25News spoke with Ava Leitze and has more about what’s next for the Pekin High School senior.
“The first time I was diagnosed was in July 2020 and I went through two months of chemotherapy. Then I came down to Memphis for a transplant in November of that year. Then I was in remission for two years after that. I relapsed on August 22nd, 2023,” she begins.
Now, for the second time, Leitze beat cancer.
The Pekin native took home the 2023 Miss Heart of Illinois Fair Queen title a month before the cancer returned.
“I have acute myeloid leukemia and it’s found in my white blood cells. My white blood cells were dividing and producing incorrectly. They were producing leukemia cells,” she explains.
She spent part of her reign wearing her crown and sash in her hospital bed.
She even got a special visit from Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker.
Despite her temporary stay at St. Jude Children’s Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, she is still on track to graduate from high school this spring, but for now, she is putting her biggest focus on her well-being, saying she is “still at risk for infection.”
Once she leaves Memphis in a month or so, the titleholder has her eyes set on another large life goal.
“I’m going to the University of Kentucky to study biology to become a radiologist. I find that reading X-rays is interesting. I feel like I’m much more empathetic for patients and better-prepared bedside care because I know what they are going through,” she concludes.
When she learned the cancer returned a second time, she said she was frustrated with the news, but it was community members who rallied alongside her with the hashtag #AvaStrong who helped her mentally stay the course to where she is now. She’s going to return this summer to the Heart of Illinois Fair to crown her successor.