Mom Films Toddler Playing-Unaware 2 Months Later Life Would Change Forever

When Katelynn Smoot looks back at videos of her daughter Lilah before her diagnosis, it brings home just how much has changed-and how quickly it happened.

One day, Lilah was a happy, smiling, carefree child. Then everything changed. It began on what should have been one of the family's happiest days. Smoot and her husband Tyler were in the hospital; she was in labor, about to give birth to her son, Lilah's younger brother, William.

Unbeknownst to them, Lilah had suffered a seizure around 8 a.m. that same day while at home with her grandmother and was rushed to the ER. "They did a CT scan and found a mass in her brain," Smoot told Newsweek. "We didn't know until the pediatrician came into our hospital room at about 12 p.m. They wanted to wait until they understood what caused the seizure."

Lilah needed to be transferred to a nearby children's hospital. Before that, she was brought to Smoot's room, where she met her new brother. Her mom, meanwhile, was in shock. "When the doctor came in to talk to me, I never imagined it was something wrong with Lilah. She was such a healthy toddler," she said. "She had absolutely zero symptoms of a brain tumor. Even when they told us there was a mass, the last thing I thought was cancer."

However, the seriousness of the situation became clear at the children's hospital, when an MRI confirmed Lilah had an aggressive brain mass that needed to be removed. A week later, she underwent a three-hour surgery. Pathology confirmed it was a malignant tumor.

A week after that, doctors diagnosed Lilah with an atypical teratoid rhabdoid tumor (ATRT), a rare, highly malignant, fast-growing cancer of the central nervous system. With treatment, she was given a 50 percent survival rate. Without it, less than one percent.

At that point, there was no real choice but to begin chemotherapy. What followed was brutal for Lilah and terrifying for her family. "Five rounds of chemo-three of them high-dose with stem cell transplants-and then six weeks of proton radiation to her tumor site," Smoot said. "Throughout treatment, they do scans after each phase. If the tumor is growing back, you don't move forward. Instead, your child is placed on palliative or hospice care."

Smoot credits her local community with helping them through it all. "Our whole town did their part," she said. "We had a meal train for three weeks and multiple fundraisers. There were signs in local businesses sharing our story. When you have that many people cheering your baby on, it's impossible not to feel loved."

More than anything, though, it was Lilah herself who kept them going. "She is full of light," Smoot said. "When you're around her, you can't help but feel happy. She puts everyone in a good mood."

Watching her go from a healthy toddler to a cancer patient in just two months was devastating. But over time, hospital life became routine, and staff felt like a "second family." "We had a routine. We knew how to manage Lilah's symptoms, and the hospital didn't feel like a dark place anymore. It became home," Smoot said. "Most days, she acted like a normal toddler-climbing, running, playing with Play-Doh, coloring. She loved dancing and singing."

In total, Lilah underwent nine months of treatment, finishing in November 2025. In the three scans since, there has been no evidence of disease. She will continue to be monitored every three months. "Most children with ATRT relapse within the first two years," Smoot said. "So even though she's finished treatment, we're not out of the woods."

At every scan, Lilah's oncologist leaves them with the same advice: "Go home and make memories." That's exactly what they've been doing. She has visited theme parks, spent time with the University of Pennsylvania football team, and attended Philadelphia Flyers games. She regularly sees family, has met other ATRT survivors, and recently returned from a Make-A-Wish trip to Orlando, where she visited Disney World and Universal Studios.

If Smoot hopes for anything from sharing their story, it’s to raise awareness. "Childhood cancer isn't rare-it can happen to anyone," she said. "It takes just one day for your whole life to turn upside down. So live life to the fullest and let the small things go."

2026 NEWSWEEK DIGITAL LLC.

This story was originally published June 14, 2026 at 6:30 AM.