Haidyn Ulrich is no stranger to patience.
She was patient throughout two years of acute lymphoblastic leukemia treatment and multiple football seasons of applying to be an Iowa Kid Captain.
But with time, both of those situations passed. Haidyn is now cancer-free as of April 2018 and will be the Kid Captain on Saturday, Oct. 5 as the Hawkeyes take on Ohio State.
“Ever since I found out, it’s seemed surreal,” Haidyn said of becoming a Kid Captain. “It hasn’t hit me yet.”
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At 16 years old, Haidyn, who hails from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, is the second-oldest Kid Captain for Iowa this year, and the teenager recognizes the importance of her age.
“I think it’s a positive thing that I’m older,” she said. “I get to encourage other kids and congratulate them. It’s cool to see us all at different points in our journeys with our diagnoses.”
When her mother, Brianne Ulrich, got the call about Haidyn making the roster, Kid Captain was the last thing on her mind.
“Any time I get a call from Iowa City, I pick it up,” Brianne said. “It’s usually the hospital and they need to see her for something.”
But this time around, the voice on the other end wasn’t talking about an upcoming appointment, but rather the opportunity to take the field at Kinnick. Overwhelmed by emotion, Brianne fell to the floor at work upon hearing her daughter’s dream was becoming a reality.
Haidyn was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia at age 7 after experiencing neck pain and acting lethargic after a bowling party. Brianne assumed her daughter strained herself while bowling, but after multiple doctor trips later, the family learned it was much different.
“They said her blood was shooting out potassium, so they wanted to admit us to figure out why,” Brianne said. “The next thing we knew, the nurse said it was presenting itself as cancer and the ambulance would be here in minutes.”
Haidyn can still recall the weak state of her body in detail.
“I could barely get out of my bed to move to the ambulance bed without someone in front of me, behind me, and moving my legs.”
As hard as the diagnosis was to hear, Brianne and Haidyn were comforted by the detailed plan the care team laid out at Stead Family Children’s Hospital.
“Once we knew all the details, I think that was easier to take,” Brianne said. “The team would come in every morning and they would explain what was happening for the day.”
For Haidyn’s “methodical” approach to life, she appreciated being well-informed about each step of her treatments.
Brianne remembered being sent home with a binder with numbers, information, and names of people to call.
“We came in as scared and we didn’t know anything,” she said. “But we left with so many answers.”
Haidyn aims to be back on level 11 of the children’s hospital, only this time as a nurse. She said she aspires to provide solutions and comfort for children in similar situations.
“I want to be there for someone,” Haidyn said. “I want to be a safe place on level 11.”
Haidyn is a top student in her class and says she is looking at the University of Iowa to begin her nursing education in a few short years.
“So many other kids say they don’t know what they want to do with their life,” Brianne said. “But we don’t have that. She knows because of the love and care she was given at the hospital. If she didn’t see it, I don’t know how she would have ever picked that.”