Bella Ward
Mirabella, or Bella as she is best known to her friends and family was born on October 2, 2013. She has a smile that lights up the world of every person she encounters. She is an incredible sister to her little brother Hunter and makes her mom Christy and her dad Christopher proud every single day. Bella loves to play basketball, is a cheerleader and loves working alongside her family outside. She is ​a young woman of incredible faith and adores spending time with her church youth group. An unshakable faith in Jesus is the foundation of her family and something that radiates from Bella wherever she goes. She is blessed to have an incredible extended family support system including aunts, uncles and cousins. She is especially close to her grandparents, MawMaw, PawPaw and Mimi.
Diagnosis
In May of 2025, Bella's parents began noticing some concerning symptoms that they just weren't able to explain away. Bella experienced Head pain, and she was losing her balance. As the symptoms progressed, she was also unable to see out of her left eye. Bella is an athlete and her parents were concerned she might have suffered a concussion during basketball and decided to take her in for testing. and received the devastating news that Bella had a Diffuse Midline Glioma (DMG). Bella and her family began her treatment journey, first in their home state of Virginia then moving her to St. Jude in search of better care. Throughout her diagnosis and initial treatments, Bella and her family have remained steadfast in their faith and belief that her story is not being written by statistics. Even at eleven years old, when she heard her doctors share the progronsis of one to one and a half years she responded by saying, "“If I only have one year to live, why waste time? I’m going to use the time to bring as many people to Jesus Christ as I can.”
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​​​​Bella is a shining example of hope in the face of uncertainty and the Archer Foundation is proud to join her family in their belief that there is still so much of Bella's story to be told. ​​
