By Tafra Donberger
Portraits and Styling by Tracy Kujawa
Ava Paige’s family has a saying: If you’re fearful, you’re not faithful; if you’re faithful, you’re not fearful. It’s a slogan that has helped Ava hold fast to her faith, her family and her friends through everything she’s encountered during her 18 short years on earth. Diagnosed with leukemia at only 14, Ava has overcome challenges that are not for the faint of heart.
A performer since the moment she found an old guitar when she was 7 years old, Ava knew from that early age that singing and playing music was what she wanted to do. Her parents, Angie and James Davis, supported her passion from the beginning with guitar and voice lessons, and Ava took to it like a fish to water. 
During Memorial Day weekend when Ava was 10, she rocked the karaoke mic at Sam’s Sports Grill in Old Hickory, Tennessee, while there were no other takers, until singer Kelly Clarkson showed up in the crowd. “Ava was like, ‘Do you think I can ask if she’ll sing with me?’” Angie recalled. “I told Ava to make it fun, and when Kelly asked what she wanted to sing, Ava said, ‘How about Love Shack by the B52s?’” From that performance on, Ava never needed encouragement to practice her craft, because the stage was her calling.
When Ava was invited to her first writer’s round, a session in which songwriters perform their songs in turn, she didn’t have any original music, but that quickly changed. A month later Ava returned with her own lyrics to open arms and unbelievable support.
“When you walk into a writing room, you’re safe to say what’s on your heart and mind,” Ava said. “Songs become therapy, and it’s great. Nashville is like one big small town.”
Ava’s upward trajectory continued as she earned her first standing gig at The George Jones Museum in Nashville at only 13 and began touring. She was doing a small tour in Texas just short of her 15th birthday when Angie, who is a retired nurse, became concerned about a hacking cough and extreme lethargy that Ava was experiencing. That was when the leukemia diagnosis brought Ava’s career to a screeching halt and her ability to put faith over fear was truly tested.
Battle For Her Life
It was the first day of July in 2019 when doctors gave Ava and her family the bad news. “At the end of 2018, I was doing 150 shows a year,” Ava said. “When I was diagnosed, I had to cancel over 70 events alone in one month.” It was the start of a 14-month journey for her, that began with a month-and-a-half-long stay at Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt in Nashville and went on to include intense chemotherapy and a battle with a fungal infection that ate away at her nose.
“Ava had some pretty awful moments, but the music community wrapped their arms around her,” Angie said. “She would mention that a new catheter hurt her arm; the very next day a heart-shaped pillow showed up that she could rest her arm on. Her room was filled with cards and gifts. She just had a lot of support, and she stayed positive.”
Ava had a mini guitar while she was in the hospital and everyone who visited would sign it and sing a song on it. “It has hundreds of signatures on it,” Ava said. “I had Ashley McBryde, Carly Pearce and Brandy Clark visit. When somebody needs something, Nashville reaches out!”
The co-writers that became friends during writing rounds were frequent, sometimes even daily, visitors. Jamey Perrenot, Landon Wall, Taylor Gayle, Kristen Merlin, Matt Wynn and Lizzie Cates were just a few who brought food, sang, cried and kept Ava surrounded by love.
Ava faced a litany of side effects from chemotherapy: fluid in her lungs, diabetes, heart damage, loss of muscle mass and more. That was when, a little over two years into her treatment, she met Tracy Kujawa, founder and director of Angel Heart Farm in Franklin, Tennessee, at a Nashville Predators game.
Tracy, a four-time cancer survivor herself, has made it her mission in life to provide children diagnosed with chronic or life-threatening illnesses the opportunity to ride horses, and she invited Ava to the farm. That’s where Ava met Felix, a flea-bitten gray Arabian who immediately took hold of her heart.
Meeting Felix rekindled a passion Ava had had for horses since she was only 5, when she begged her parents for pony-riding birthday parties, went on trail rides with her family at every opportunity and tagged along with a friend to her barn whenever she could for lessons.
At first, it was hard for Ava’s mom to see her riding. “I was really skeptical at first, because her platelet counts were so low,” Angie said. “She had to have so many transfusions. If you don’t have platelets, you could bleed out. But she had her first lesson and fell in love!”
Ava built her strength from the bottom up while taking lessons and forming a special bond with Felix. “He is such a gentle giant,” Ava said. “I was a fresh rider, re-learning the basics, and he was oh-so-patient and responsive. He could tell if I wasn’t quite comfortable and was very attentive to me.”
Making a Difference
Long before Ava’s leukemia diagnosis, Angie and James had told Ava, no matter what you’re doing in life, find something you’re passionate about to give back to. After bonding with Felix, Ava knew she wanted to support Tracy’s vision and goals in any way she could.
Angel Heart Farm became one of several childhood cancer-related charities that she is involved with. At Angel Heart, all the services provided—which include riding lessons for patients and their siblings as well as special nights out for moms and dads—are completely free.
Money is raised through sponsorships and fundraising events, and Ava was more than happy to share her story. “I am a firm believer that God’s got me,” Ava said. “I knew this battle was something I was going to win and have a heck of a story to tell, to make a difference in the world.”
She has shared that story at a multitude of events and in interviews for Children’s Miracle Network (CMN) Hospitals in the time since receiving her diagnosis, including acting as a national ambassador throughout 2022 playing countless events for CMN sponsors like Panda Express, Re/Max and Waffle House. She aided in raising $10 million for CMN, and 100% of those funds are given directly to hospitals for treatment, pediatric medical equipment and so much more.
Ava is involved with Rally Foundation for Childhood Cancer Research, whose mission is funding desperately needed pediatric cancer research. “Right now kids are having to take adult medications and it’s wrecking their bodies,” Ava explained. “Any kid who goes through chemo is at risk for secondary cancers. For the rest of my life, I have to get checked for more. Rally is doing a great job of raising funds to research pediatric medications.”
Though she has helped raise millions for so many pediatric causes, Ava knew there was more she could do. She was inspired to create her own non-profit organization called Pick’n and Kick’n with Ava Paige based on her own experience as a teenager in the hospital.
“Oftentimes when teenagers get gifts, they would include slime or crayons,” Angie explained. As an experienced patient, Ava knew that teenagers needed and appreciated age-appropriate options. She created gift baskets that include noise-cancelling headphones, sound machines, soft sheets and other items tailored to make a teen’s life more comfortable in the hospital.
Faith Cancer Free
Throughout Ava’s battle, her faith has buoyed her. “When you go through cancer, you can lose your faith or strengthen it,” Ava said. “I knew deep down I was going to win this battle.” She has been cancer free for over 19 months now, with big dreams for the future.
Ava wants to write a book about surviving cancer; she hopes to see her foundation fundraise enough to help families pay bills, cover the cost of groceries and more. She wants to own property where she can keep a few horses, where they can have the freedom to run and stretch their legs, just like Felix and the other special equines at Angel Heart Farm.
The family mantra has kept her strong, time and again, and she’s blessed to be rebuilding the music career that got put on hold. She writes everything from country and pop to gospel and inspirational Christian, has exciting performance opportunities in the upcoming year and still finds time to make inspirational Instagram posts to kids going through treatment.
“Most teens can be so selfish,” Angie said. “Ava’s the opposite. She looks at life different because of the possibility of dying was real. She leaned on our family, our God, our friends, our doctors.”
And even though she’s beaten cancer, Ava makes time to continue her riding lessons with Felix, and always makes sure she has his favorite treats when she visits the farm. “I’ve seen her become a real horsewoman,” Tracy said. “She went from a girl who likes horses to something that is a lifelong passion, which is exactly what we want to foster.”
Follow Ava at www.avapaigemusic.com and on Instagram @avapaigemusic
Photos by Tracy Kujawa, angelheartfarm.com
Clothing styled by Tracy Kujawa
