Southampton Community Supports Davis Family as 4-Year-Old Daughter Battles Brain Cancer

Members of both the Bridgehampton and Southampton communities have been rallying support in recent weeks for the family of Carl and Kara Davis as their young daughter, Kaianne, has been battling a rare form of brain cancer.

The Bridgehampton Child Care and Recreation Center hosted a fundraiser on April 6, calling it “Spicy Like Kaianne,” to help support the family financially as it navigates the difficult and costly journey of seeking the best medical treatment possible for Kaianne, who will turn 5 in August.

When she was just 22 months old, Kaianne began to show signs of extreme fatigue and loss of appetite, leading her parents to seek out answers. Over the next weeks, during the height of the pandemic, the family experienced a series of setbacks and frustrations as doctors struggled to understand what was going on with their daughter.

Finally, she was diagnosed with anaplastic ependymoma, a rare form of brain cancer. While it is found more commonly in children than in adults, only 200 new cases are diagnosed in both children and adults each year. Survival rates for children diagnosed with ependymoma can vary between 50 and 70 percent, but the new year brought new challenges for Kaianne and her family.

Caring for Kaianne and providing her the best treatment possible has been a struggle for Carl and Kara, who have three older sons to care for as well. They moved to North Carolina several months ago so Kaianne could be close to Duke University Hospital, where she was being treated. But in January, they received news that her cancer had returned and was not responding to treatment. Kaianne is now enrolled in clinical trials at Texas Children’s Hospital, but the logistics of getting her and the family there for treatment and managing the rest of their life expenses have created a financial crisis.

The community has stepped up to try to ease that burden, with a GoFundMe page for “Lil Miss Kaianne Davis” set up to provide support. Several individuals and groups have contributed, including several local PBA organizations. Carl Davis works as a dispatcher for Southampton Village, and has had to take time off from work to help care for his daughter and family.

Dan Farrell, the vice president of the Police Radio Operators Benevolent Association in Southampton Village, said the union stands behind Davis and is dedicated to helping support the family as it navigates the enormous challenges they are facing.

“The outpouring of support for Kaianne and the Davis family from the community, the agencies we dispatch, and the members of the Southampton Village PBA has been nothing short of incredible,” Farrell said. “It means so much for Carl and his family, but it also proves that we are more than an emergency service team — at the end of the day, we support each other like family.”

To support the family, visit gofundme.com/f/24nh4fgxmo.