ALTOONA, Pa. (WTAJ) — The “Cancer Can’t but Krisha Can” fundraiser will be held on Saturday, September 14th. The benefit is being held to cover some of the medical and travelling expenses for Krisha Patterson, a local student with two rare forms of cancer.

Only one in thirty-thousand people are effected by Multiple Endocrine Neoplasia and only about three percent of thyroid cancers are Medullary Thyroid or MTC. These two rare forms have no known cure —those diagnosed with it usually have their lives cut short, but that’s not stopping one local girl who says she’s not afraid of her unknown future.

When Krisha Patterson graduated high school, she went off to Texas to try and live her dreams of becoming a professional ballet dancer. But when she turned nineteen she felt something was wrong.

Krisha Patterson/ Cancer Patient ” I would get a pain over my entire body and I would get heart palpitations and my hands would shake super bad and I’d get a really bad headache.”

She then moved back home to Altoona and visited a hospital in Pittsburgh where they weren’t sure how to treat her illness. Now, she visits a specialist in Texas at least every six months… Going back to the place that held her dreams and changed her reality.
Both diseases require her to constantly get checked out but through it all Krisha keeps a smile on her face.

“I’m not scared of it staying with me it is who I am… But um I’m just very positive about it.”