Large Crowd Gathers to Cheer Up Cancer Patient at Albany Med

At around 6pm Thursday evening, a massive crowd of police officers, firefighters, bikers, cheerleaders, friends, family and complete strangers gathered below the foot bridge at Albany Medical Center to lift the spirits of an 11-year-old girl named Anna LaBella. They held signs, made t-shirts, chanted her name, and it was beautiful.

Anna, an Ilion native, is currently receiving treatment at Albany Med bravely fighting Ewing's Sarcoma, a rare form of cancer that occurs in the soft tissue of the bones. For Anna, this is her second battle with cancer, and for the last two years she's been mostly alone, isolated and depressed as she fights for her life.

As a way to pass the time, Anna makes videos and puts them on Tik Tok. Many people on the social media platform have taken to her smile, offering the brave young warrior words of encouragement.

But others aren't so nice to Anna, and these bullies are relentless.

They tease her about her bald head and some even ask to see her hairbrush. This young girl with prettiest smile needed a lift. And boy did she get one!

Earlier in the week, a nonprofit organization that supports kids with life-threatening illnesses called Fighting All Monsters sent out an invite for a gathering to surprise Anna. The goal was to lift her spirits, cheer her on and show her that she's not fighting this dreaded disease alone.

What happened next was a thing of absolute beauty.

Albany police blocked off the street so that hundreds could gather while Anna was brought to the foot bridge, greeted by several hundred supporters. Unable to be down on the street with the large gathering crowd, she watched from above.