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Ava
Elizabeth Zebert was born on
May 14, 2007. She is the daughter of Brian
and Lorena Zebert and sister of Andrew (17)
and Michael (11). Ava is currently a 10th
Grade Student at Quakertown High School.
Ava is a straight A student who is enrolled
in many honors and AP classes. She was a
member of the National Junior Honor Society,
Key Club, and volunteers much of her time
in the community. Like any teenager she
enjoys spending time with her friends and
family.
From an early age, Ava has always been active.
She enjoyed playing sports like hockey and
basketball with her brothers. At the age
of 6, Ava signed up to play softball with
Richland Area Softball Association (RASA).
She was very athletic, a natural. Her love
for the sport continued to grow as she got
older. At age 9, she tried out for the 12U
PA panthers and during tryouts, she took
3 softballs to the face and just kept moving.
She did not make the team that year, but
that did not stop her. At age 10, she started
playing travel softball with the 12U PA
Panthers and at the age of 12 joined the
Lehigh Valley Phantoms. Ava is a student
of the game and always wanting to learn
more so she can be the best she can be.
This is how she tackles life as well. Everything
she does, whether it is school or sports,
she does with focus and determination.
On June 18th 2022 at a tournament here in
Quakertown, Ava scraped her knee which quickly
became infected. We took her to the hospital
where they took blood and treated her with
antibiotics. She had two additional blood
tests over the next week which were abnormal.
After speaking to her physician, we were
advised to consult with a pediatric hematologist
at St. Christopher’s in Philadelphia.
The doctor called us to discuss the results.
Ava’s blood work showed “blasts”
which were indicative of leukemia. We were
instructed to come back to St. Christopher’s
the next day to talk with the oncology doctor
and at that time, she was admitted for a
bone marrow biopsy. The news we received
that day was not good news and Ava just
wanted to go home. We made the decision
to transfer her to Lehigh Valley Children’s
Hospital where she was diagnosed on July
1st, 2022, with T-Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia.
Ava was hospitalized for the first month
of chemotherapy treatment. The doctors said
the goal was to eradicate the leukemia from
her bone marrow and get Ava to “clinical
remission” in the first 29 days. On
August 5th – she made it. The results
of the 29-day bone marrow biopsy came back
from Johns Hopkins and the results indicated
that Ava was in Clinical Remission. Ava
continues to battle every day. Some days
are better than others and there will be
bumps in the road ahead. She still has another
2 and a half years of treatment to battle
this cancer, but we have no doubts she will
beat it.
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and our family cannot express how grateful
we are for the continued prayers, love and
support from our family, friends, teammates,
the entire softball community, the entire
Quakertown community, Quakertown High School
(teachers, students, coaches, athletes),
Lehigh Valley Phantoms, St. Isidore’s
RC Church and complete strangers. We would
specifically like to thank Eric Medlin who
organized this tournament with the help
of so many others in the community. Your
efforts to help in any and every way are
truly appreciated. Ava is strong, focused
and determined to beat this. Having all
of you behind her supporting her is a true
blessing. #AVAS ARMY
~Brian
Zebert
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