Katie Patton, an Oceanside High School student, has used her inspiring journey conquering a life-threatening illness to help children who are facing similar health challenges.
The Florence A. Smith Elementary School #2 honored the 16-year-old on Friday during the school’s annual Superhero Day. The day gives students the opportunity to wear superhero shirts and celebrates Patton, a former student at the school, as its very own superhero.
Katie was born with a rare genetic blood disorder known as Diamond-Blackfan anemia, where the bone marrow fails to produce enough red blood cells. Typically manifesting itself in infancy, the disorder affects about 1,000 people in North America.
Katie’s blood disorder required a specialized treatment protocol typically used for cancer patients, and she underwent more than 100 blood transfusions during the first few years of her life.
Her parents, Lori and Ryan Patton, took extraordinary measures to ensure her survival, including a carefully planned in vitro fertilization to conceive a sibling who could potentially serve as a bone marrow transplant donor for Katie.
Her struggle reached a turning point in 2013 when her younger brother, Brady, became her life-saving donor when he was 18 months old. “He gave his sister this great gift and a chance, and they’ve always had a really close relationship,” Lori Patton, an Oceanside High School teacher for 22 years, said. “I think keeping them in the loop of what has happened, and we were always honest about how we had to have IVF to have him. He gave his sister this great, great gift.”
Following a grueling 50-day hospital stay and a nine-month quarantine period, Katie emerged as a survivor, inspiring those around her after she was declared cured of the rare genetic disease.
Katie’s difficult early experiences in hospitals did not break her spirit — instead, they ignited a passion to give back. Drawing from her memories of hospital stays and the comfort provided by her family, Katie launched the Katie Gives Back fundraiser 11 years ago, once she was healthy.
With an initial focus on collecting toys and essential comfort items for pediatric patients, her initiative evolved into a monetary fundraiser in response to the challenges posed by the Covid pandemic. The fundraiser has allowed her to continue supporting children facing similar trials in hospitals, ensuring they have a more comforting experience during their treatments.
“I couldn’t really be around that many people,” Katie said of her experience. “Then, when I got out, I was quarantined in my house for nine months. Then, when I got out, we went to Disneyland, and then I started this fundraiser the year after I got out of the hospital because I wanted to give back to all the kids who were in the hospital still and were going through what I had gone through.”
The Florence A. Smith School has become a central hub for Katie’s mission. Superhero Day originated from Katie’s medical journey and her desire to support other children facing similar obstacles. In 2016, when Katie moved to Oceanside from Holbrook and attended her new school, her teacher learned about her remarkable medical history.
The school community decided to create a special day that would celebrate her strength and raise awareness for pediatric cancer patients. The first Superhero Day was conceived in February of that year, with students encouraged to wear superhero shirts to symbolize the courage of children fighting serious illnesses.
Since the initiative began the school has collected more than $3,000 for Katie Gives Back, and she has raised just over $5,000 in total. During Superhero Day on Friday, the school recognized “superhero” Katie as she shared her story with students who gathered in the auditorium.
“I had a rare blood disorder, but I wanted to give people more comfort,” Katie said to the School #2 students. “My mom would draw things on the windows to make me feel happier. My dad would bring me all these toys because I was so uncomfortable, and I couldn’t really eat because of the chemotherapy. After all these things, I just wanted to get back.
“I was isolated, couldn’t see my friends, and spent countless hours in the hospital,” Katie recalled. “My dad would take me on midnight walks, just to provide comfort and explain what was happening.”
Monetary contributions raised through the Katie Gives Back initiative are aimed at improving the quality of care and comfort for pediatric patients at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and Stony Brook Cancer Center.
“I always had hope that she was gonna be okay,” Lori Patton said. “It was always just hard watching her having to endure the pain that went on along with it, like the pain of, you know, just medical procedures, or the pain of losing her hair or having chemo, the pain of like being away from her brother and friends.”
Doctors initially delivered a grim prognosis for Katie — not expecting her to live past 40 — but now a healthy Katie is actively sharing her story. She is considering creating a formal foundation for Katie Gives Back and speaks regularly at her high school about her experience. Teachers and staff alike have expressed deep admiration for Katie’s courage and the positive influence she has on the community.
“Miracles happen, and you really have to keep the faith,” Lori said. “My husband and I were huge advocates for Katie, because we were told things like, ‘You can’t have another child, because you might have another child that has this.’ We always advocated for her to have the best shot in life, and that was a big thing that I learned about this process. You have to advocate for your children, always.”
