Every year, Rochester Regional Health and Golisano Children’s Hospital recognize children whose strength and resilience have inspired those around them. The Mir
Paige Smith holds a bird during 13WHAM's visit to her family's home April 24, 2026. Every year, Rochester Regional Health and Golisano Children’s Hospital recognize children whose strength and resilience have inspired those around them.
The Miracle Kids series highlights children who have overcome extraordinary medical challenges, along with the families and medical professionals who supported them throughout their journeys. 13WHAM is honored to share their stories. One minute, she’s dancing around the kitchen. The next, she’s making breakfast for her grandma.
Then she’s checking on her pet bird, making sure he has plenty of treats and gentle pets on the head. Paige has always had enough energy to fill an entire room. The sparkplug who couldn’t slow down suddenly didn’t want to go Christmas shopping. She didn’t even have the energy to walk through the stores.
Paige was exhausted, losing weight and complaining of abdominal pain.
“At the beginning, it was like, ‘Oh, Paige, don’t be lazy. You just don’t want to clean up. You’re just trying to not do homework,'” her older sister, Harlem Smith, said.
“But after a while, it was starting to get weird. ” After tests and appointments, the Smith family got a phone call that changed everything, sending them rushing to the hospital.
“Stop what you’re doing, come right now, bring a bag, because you’re going to be here for a while,” Latisha recalled being told. Doctors soon diagnosed Paige with Stage IV Wilms tumor, the most common kidney cancer in children. While surgery might be the first treatment option that comes to mind, Paige’s case was complicated. The cancer had spread to her liver, and the mass was too large to remove immediately.
“One of the toughest times was having to upgrade her therapies once we found her mass was extended into her liver,” nurse practitioner Meghan Anthony said. Despite the devastating diagnosis, Paige’s father, Odis Smith, said the family immediately trusted the team caring for their daughter. Over the next 13 months, Paige endured chemotherapy, radiation and countless hospital visits. But her family says she never stopped trying to live like a normal kid.
“I’ve definitely seen her go to treatment and the next day go to school and then go to sleep,” Harlem said. “And make TikToks, jumping like she didn’t have a thousand bags pumped in her stomach. ” Staff at Golisano Children's Hospital say Paige’s energy never really faded, even during the hardest parts of treatment.
“When I first met Paige, it was about 7 in the morning and she really did not like me because I was the bearer of some tests and some bad news,” pediatric oncologist Dr. Jeff Andolina said with a laugh. Over time, and maybe a little bribery from the care team, their relationship grew into something much deeper. For the Smith family, the support they received during the hardest year of their lives felt personal.
“These kids become your family,” Anthony said. “You see them so often and you really just get to love on them and get to know their families. ”“When she rang that bell, I was so proud,” Patricia Gross, Paige’s grandma, said. Doctors say Paige will continue returning for follow-up scans and imaging to make sure the cancer does not return.
“She’ll have follow-up scans and imaging about every three or four months for a couple of years, just to be sure that nothing comes back,” Andolina said. “My baby is gonna be OK," she said. "So many things that she don’t have to worry about no more. ” Paige admits treatment was not always easy, and she still deals with strong emotions from the journey.
BE THE FIRST TO COMMENT “Don’t let yourself down just because of that,” Paige said.
“You can get through it. Just keep prayers and think positive. Positive things will happen. ” If you would like to help make more miracles happen, you can donate by scanning this QR code and clicking on the link to the Golisano Children's Hospital giving page.
Police are asking for help finding two children from the Southern Tier. An out-of-state man has been charged for planting a tracker one someone's vehicle in Steuben County, according to the Bath Village Police Department.
"Unreasonable" speed was a factor in a crash Wednesday morning in Walworth, according to the Wayne County Sheriff's Office. Four residents were displaced by a fire early Saturday morning on the city's west side. The suspected hantavirus case in Ontario County involves a Geneva High School student, the Geneva City School District confirmed to 13WHAM.
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