Rappelling up a rock-climbing wall was Akilah Lopez’s greatest challenge at MD Anderson’s Camp Family Fun Day in August 2022.

“They had a zigzag route, which was easy,” says the 14-year-old, who was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia almost two years earlier. “But I went up the hard way. I was scared I was going to fall or get stuck.”

She didn’t. Akilah made it to the top, and her reward, once there, was access...