Ava Szajnuk was asked by her 2nd grade teacher to share something about herself instead of bringing a present to her classmates. Ava wanted to share a video of her journey while signing Rachel Platten’s song Stand By You. She said that some of the other kids do not believe that she has had four cranial surgeries and is shunt-dependent. She said that they also do not believe that she ever suffered pain.

This video was all AVA. Every picture was picked by Ava. She wanted to share the gruesome ones as well as the happy ones.

I’m proud of Ava for wanting to share her journey with her classmates. This is what Ava’s life is about and I am very proud of my daughter for her strength and perseverance.

Ava wrote the following to introduce her video:

“Hi. My name is Ava Szajnuk. But, you probably already know that by now. There are several disturbing pictures in this video. If you want to put your head down, you can just listen to my singing. Thank you for watching my journey. I dedicate this to all of my rare brothers and sisters.”

After the video presentation, Ava had a ton of questions from her classmates. They were very proud of Ava for being so happy, so funny and so caring after such trauma.  They were especially proud of her for riding a horse!

As Ava’s mother, she amazes me. She continues to be the strength of our family!

For more about Ava Szajnuk’s Journey

PS – Ava sang “Heck” instead of “Hell” during the song.