Women Who Inspire: Kate Foster

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Kate Foster is going to medical school. 

“I just got in!” she said. News all the sweeter after being waitlisted in 2022. She decided to reapply. 

Kate doesn’t give up. 

She was 12 in 2011 and receiving chemotherapy treatment for acute myeloid leukemia when three infections in her left leg, one after the other, forced doctors to amputate at mid-thigh. That afternoon, she received a bone marrow transplant, her sister as her donor. 

Kate was up on crutches the same day. 

A competitive gymnast, training 20 hours weekly, Kate tried to reckon having to give up the sport. She’d started at 7 and loved it. But then her coach called: “I’ve never taught a one-legged gymnast before, but I’m willing to try if you are.” She gave Kate hope. 

“I’ve always loved the challenge of gymnastics,” Kate said. “You’re trying to learn new skills. You’re always bad at it to begin with. You’re definitely going to fall a few times.”

Every time Kate fell, she got back up.  

Kate returned to the gym on her 13th birthday. She got her prosthetic leg, one with a foot so she could walk, and later that summer, one with a blade so she could run.

Kate had to relearn every move. 

To help raise money for childhood cancer research, Kate participated in a fundraiser in her home state of Illinois for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. She did five squats for every dollar donated and raised $40,000. She and her mom toured St. Jude, never imagining Kate would one day be back as a patient.

When Kate relapsed in 2012, she was referred to St. Jude for treatment, including a second bone marrow transplant. She’s been cancer-free since.

Videos of Kate went viral. One of her at 16 on the balance beam got 5 million views. Kate remembers the gym was unusually quiet as she mounted the 4-inch-wide beam. 

She leapt and turned, did two back walkovers and a roundoff. Then Kate swung her prosthetic leg, launched from her right and flipped backward off the beam, sticking her landing. The gym exploded in cheers.

Kate worked more than a year on that roundoff. She fell plenty. 

“You just have to embrace the fall,” Kate said. “It’s an integral part of the process.”

As a pre-med student, Kate competed on her college’s club team. At one national meet, she fell off the parallel bars — twice — and got back up — twice. She took all-around second place. 

Not getting back up wasn’t an option. Same with cancer.

“You can sit there and have a bad attitude about it, mope around in your sadness,” Kate said, “or you take the situation, and make the most of it.” 

Kate earned her master’s degree in physiology and is a clinical research coordinator. Now she has choices. So far, three medical schools have offered spots. 

Maybe someday she’ll work at St. Jude. Kate imagines doing for someone else what doctors did for her. They gave her another chance — to fall and get back up.