Thunder rumbled in the distance as Candace Hudson – bald from the effects of chemotherapy and fresh from a seven-hour treatment – explained to a group of three dozen or so friends why she’d asked them to pray.

It wasn’t for her, she said, but for Megan Kelley, the young Ewing’s Sarcoma survivor who captured the city’s heart last year as she successfully fought off the disease.

“When I heard Megan’s diagnosis last week, I just sat on my sofa and prayed,” she said. “And the more I prayed, the more I understood that I had to be more obedient, and I was led to have a prayer rally for Megan.”

Megan, who graduated from Andalusia High School last spring, despite having spent a good part of her senior year near the hospital in Birmingham, is currently enrolled in LBW. She had been declared cancer free and in remission. But when she began to have headaches, the family went for a check-up last week.

Megan was diagnosed with leukemia and sent immediately to UAB Hospital.

Yesterday, Megan’s mom said the family expects to be at the hospital for 28 days. Next week, Megan will receive a heavy dose of chemo as doctors prepare her for a bone marrow transplant down the road. Wednesday, she was studying, having already worked out a plan with her LBW instructors to continue her classes.

Meanwhile, her friends gathered in a large circle in the front yard of the Kelley home to pray, asking God for healing; for strength for the Kelley family; and for wisdom for the doctors who will treat her.

“This is a sweet and precious thing,” one of those gathered said as she thanked God for the support shown Megan.

Hudson said she got to know Megan while working as a substitute teacher at Andalusia High School.

“She was admired as a sweet Christian girl,” Hudson said. “But her strength and faith grew after she was diagnosed. My faith has been down lately.”

Although she, too, is in the midst of treatments, Hudson said she is more concerned for Megan. When she counts back five generations, she is one of four generations in which a close family member has battled cancer, the most recent being her mom, who died of lung cancer in 2012.

“To see this child diagnosed after all she has been through is too much,” Hudson said. “My life is not over. I have a 19-year-old and a 15-year-old, and I’m not done. But she is a kid. She hasn’t had this.”

Meanwhile, supporters also asked for support for Megan’s parents, Keith and Donna Kelley. After being on catastrophic leave from the Andalusia City School system last year, Mrs. Kelley recently went back to work. Supporters said anyone who works in the state education system – not just Andalusia City Schools – can donate leave time to her through the sick leave bank system.

And over her protests, they also said Hudson, who drives a bus for the city system, also can receive sick leave contributions.