ORLANDO, Fla. (WOFL FOX 35 ORLANDO) -
Mikala Barnes has survived cancer and a bone marrow transplant, and she's only 15 years-old.
While recovering at Florida Hospital for Children, Mikala learned to paint, and since then, she hasn't stopped creating art. "Before I knew it, I had a stack of paintings," Mikala remembers. "A nurse gave me an idea, 'You should sell these,' and I'm like 'Oh, okay. I'll try. I'll try it.'"
Since then, Mikala has raised hundreds of dollars and has donated it all to the charity who helped her family through her own bone marrow transplant –- Kids Beating Cancer.
"I asked her if she would paint something special for Kids Beating Cancer that had our colors in it," the organization's founder Margaret Guedes tells us. "And when she did, it was so striking and so gorgeous I said, ‘This is going to be a scarf of artwork that a woman can wear and pay tribute to children like Mikala.'"
One hundred percent of the proceeds from the scarves will help other families with children in need of bone marrow transplants, because the procedure can cost up to $100,000 dollars -- even with insurance! The goal is to raise tens of thousands of dollars from Mikala's scarf.
"That tells you cancer doesn't take your spirit away," adds Mikala's doctor at Florida Hospital, Dr. Paul Gordon. "Cancer doesn't take your hope and your drive away."
Mikala continues to sell her art to benefit Kids Beating Cancer through her Facebook page.
Kids Beating Cancer is already taking orders for Mikala's scarf at their website.
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On the web:
https://www.facebook.com/MikalaTheAccidentalArtist
http://www.kidsbeatingcancer.com/
