A brave Pasco County 9-year-old is on a crusade to battle skin cancer. The young girls voice made it all the way to the capitol.
“I want to tell you about someone I know who has skin cancer, me!,” said Mckenna Fitzpatrick in a speech at school.
Mckenna bravely gave a speech about her journey with cancer.
“It’s not so bad if you can find it early and have it removed,” she says in her speech.
The 9-year-old is a fourth-grader at Seven Oaks Elementary. About a year ago she noticed something unusual about something she’s lived with all her life.
“I had a birthmark there, it started bleeding so we didn’t really know,” she said.
Her mother Deanna Fitzpatrick took her to see a dermatologist, the diagnosis was startling, cancer.
“There are no words you can describe when you hear that word with your child,” said Fitzpatrick.
Fortunately the Fitzpatrick's caught it early and were able to have the spot removed. Now Mckenna's making her voice heard.
“I want to tell other people about it so that they know what it’s like so that they’re not terrified, they’re not like, 'oh no what’s going to happen next,'” she said.
Mckenna's speech made it to the House floor where Congressman Gus Bilirakis used it as an example of early detection.
Dianna Fitzpatrick is also a skin cancer survivor and the two are spreading the message that it can happen to anyone big or small, young or old.
“So I challenge all of you to pay close attention to your skin and get any suspicious marks on your skin checked, don’t wait -- the time to start is now!,” Mckenna said ending her speech.
The Fitzpatricks say they are just starting to get involved with organizations to spread awareness about the disease and its affects on young children.