OGDEN, Utah — Alexa Hering is somewhat of a car enthusiast.
That’s why she’s taking her senior photographs with dozens of different wheels. There’s everything from a Corvette to a Mustang.
Hering sat in the cars in amazement, checking out the interiors and engines. She said it’s one of her favorite things, so it only makes sense that she’s capturing her graduation pictures from behind the wheel.
While taking senior photos may not seem important, it’s a big milestone for Hering and her family.
She was diagnosed with anaplastic ependymoma, an aggressive brain cancer, at just two-and-a-half years old.
“They pulled up the CT scans and they showed us this tumor, saying it was about the size of a baseball, softball, or soda can almost in her little head, and I kind of just broke down,” Hering's mom Ciara Dewey said.
Even now, Dewey said a lot of days can be a struggle for Hering, but she continues to fight through it.
“Honestly, I didn’t know if we’d get here,” Dewey said. “From the beginning, it’s always been her. It was always her who had the strength, who kept us all going and it’s just amazing to see her smile.”
Hering said it’s her mom and the rest of her family who have helped her through the toughest of times.
“I didn’t think I would have this opportunity to be here and to celebrate my senior year and be in school this long and not have any complications really,” Hering said. “So, I’m a really lucky person.”
When Ethan Gerena heard Hering's story, he helped set up a car photoshoot.
He owns Ogden Midnight Runners and called up his friends to help bring cars new and old to the shoot.
“I think the word would be fulfilling. It really instills hope in me that the car community around us is more helpful when they need to be,” Gerena said.
Almost 15 years after being diagnosed with brain cancer, Hering will be walking across the graduation stage in May, stepping over life’s roadblocks and starting a brand-new chapter.
She is motivating others and shares her own words of advice.
“It’s hard because you want to give up so easily and you just want to let everything be, but you can still fight," she said. "It’s hard in the moment, but it gets better.”
