Kameryn Rasberry knows what it feels like to want to give up. Through two open heart surgeries, a heart transplant and chemotherapy, the 18-year-old’s resilience has been tested time and again. But with help, she fought for her health. Physically — and mentally.
Now she’s turning that resilience full circle and passing on what she learned to her peers.
Earlier this year, the Aurora native launched a website to help teens better their mental health. The site was the focus of her Gold Award project, the highest honor in Girl Scouts.
Kameryn’s website, sites.google.com/view/kameryngsgoldmentalwellness, offers tips, advice and insight on how to exercise and eat for better mental wellness and provides resources for how to get professional help. It took a total of 80 hours over the course of seven or eight months to complete, Rasberry said in a recent interview.
Really, though, the project has been years in the making.
Kameryn was born with a congenital heart defect. By the age of 7, she had undergone two open heart surgeries. At 12, she had a heart transplant. Then she was diagnosed with post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorder (PTLD), a life-threatening complication of organ transplantation.
PTLD is classified as a lymphoma, a group of related cancers that affect the lymphatic system, which functions to protect the body against infection and disease, according to the National Organization for Rare Disorders.
Kameryn was diagnosed with PTLD for the first time in 2018. She was diagnosed again in 2020, and then a third time in 2021. With each diagnosis, she underwent chemotherapy.
And through it all, the health setbacks were taking their toll mentally.
“It was a lot on my body, and definitely a lot on my mental health,” Kameryn said. “I went through a lot of PTSD. A lot of trauma. A lot of anxiety and depression.”
Spending more time at the hospital than home — being away from friends and family — was hard, she said. Especially later on when she was being treated with PTLD, having to balance school and chemo was isolating.
“I found myself struggling mentally and physically — and wanting to give up,” she said.
Slowly, though, Kameryn started to turn her internal struggle on its head. She started exercising, being more mindful about what she ate. She started going to therapy. She found solace in meditation and prayer. Little by little, she recovered.
“By staying resilient, eventually I got help,” she said. “I got better.”
More than better — inspired even.
Kameryn’s experience left her wanting to take what she had gone through and discovered into something actionable. Her Gold Award was the perfect opportunity.
Girl Scouts are eligible to pursue their Gold Awards in high school. To earn the honor, a Girl Scout identifies an issue they care about and then plans and carries out a project that will leave a lasting impact on their community — and beyond — to address it. In 2024, close to 3,000 Girl Scouts completed Gold Award projects.
Kameryn was 5 years old when she first got into Girl Scouts, joining a troop based in Lisle. Growing up, Rasberry knew the prestige that came with earning a Gold Award, but she didn’t know she wanted to go about earning one herself until her personal health challenges showed her there was a cause she could leave her mark on.
“When I went through what I did, you know the transplant and afterwards, I knew that I wanted to make my Gold Award project about mental health,” she said.
Kameryn’s final project website is personal, encouraging and informative. It includes a nod to her story and inspiration for the idea, but, for the most part, it’s a trove of suggestions and coping mechanisms for those going through a difficult time with their mental health, based on the strategies that helped her start feeling like herself again.
This was the first time Kameryn had ever attempted creating a website, she said. There was a learning curve, but she was persistent, she said.
“I want this website to be used as a resource for teens, but honestly adults as well, to go back to during moments of distress or maybe when you’re having those mental battles, to use this website, the techniques and tips and videos and resources to get the help that you need,” Kameryn said.
Her Gold Award is the beginning of what she hopes to be a long future spent doing what she’s most passionate about: helping others.
Kameryn is headed to Loyola University Chicago this fall. She’s majoring in public health on the pre-medicine track, she said.
She wants to be a doctor. A pediatric cardiologist, to be exact, she said.
“I have a passion for helping people so I knew that being a doctor would be perfect,” Kameryn said. “I love medicine and anything science. I want to be able, later on as a doctor, to look at my patients and tell them I know what you’re going through. And you’re not alone.”
