"Why me? Why me? Why me? I was in the room just thinking, 'Please don't be anything, please. I will do anything right now. Just don't let it be me again.'"
Those were the cries of Vanguard women's soccer's starting goalkeeper Grayton Normand when a long-lasting battle with cancer threatened to reload its punch at the doorstep of her senior year of high school. But a resilient Normand learned to be reliant on the Lord, and four years later the senior in college finds herself an overcomer, a comforter, and a routine participant in cancer walks to raise funds for blood cancer research and support patients and their families.
Normand's seven-year battle began the day after Christmas, 2007, when she was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), a blood cancer that causes bone marrow to overproduce immature white blood cells, crowding out healthy blood cells to weaken the body's ability to fight infection, carry oxygen, or control bleeding—she was only three years old.
"Obviously at that age, I didn't know what was going on, but by the age of five, that's when I really understood what was happening," she relayed.
Grayton faced not only a cancer that constantly dictated her daily routine, but another obstacle in trying to find a normal childhood during her formative years. She had to be cautiously distanced from other children to avoid getting sick due to her weakened immune system, leading to less time playing youth sports or being active at school. What should be a carefree age was instead fraught with worry and medical visits. A five-year-old Normand was already drawing her own blood and telling others where to stick the needles for her chemotherapy treatments. However, she recognizes her former elementary school teachers as key support figures to help her maintain the more restrictive safety requirements as she passed through grade school. Between them and her family, she managed to get a more normal experience when health permitted.
"My parents and I would try to make the whole experience normal, you know, so that I wouldn't be the odd kid out," shared Normand. "But obviously going into school, I was always going to be different. In first grade, I had to remove my own chemotherapy treatments and do it myself while at school. So, I knew I was going to be different from everyone else."
The Chino Hills native could finally enjoy the conventionality of routinely spending time with other students when she was in fifth grade and saw sustained positive signs in her cancer's remission.
"I was thinking, 'Wow, I get to live a normal life!' It was immediate. I didn't think about something coming back. I just thought, 'I don't have to go through this anymore.' I get to be normal again and enjoy life."
The positive trajectory continued for an optimistic Grayton as her chemotherapy tapered down to once a month as she turned eight. Just two years later, all the treatments finally stopped, and a 10-year-old Normand was freed to pursue whatever activities she felt like chasing.
The development marked the start of a new era for Normand and set up her first encounter with her first contact sport: soccer. Normand came from a soccer family, with three of her siblings playing the sport, but that did not mean she was able to slide in quickly. She had to forge her own path and fight fresh battles, as her career was starting a few years behind the curve. The future collegiate athlete admitted that she had a ways to go to confront and equally overcome that reality.
"After cancer, I was always going to be behind or underdeveloped compared to everyone else. Even in the classroom, just because of how much school I had missed growing up. So, for me, it was always like playing this game of catch-up, which was hard. I would see other athletes or students that were levels ahead of me with skills or techniques I didn't have. And eventually I just thought, 'I have to get better. I have to do better.'"
A voracious Normand did just that. Determined to make up for the lost years of development, she would make the time to train by herself before practice and remain long after to conduct her own sessions. "The whole experience pushed me to do better and be better than everyone else," she reflected. "I was always telling my parents after trainings, 'I need one more hour; I need three more minutes.' I would think to myself, 'If I'm already behind, how can I be better in a month, in two months?'"
The perennial toil started to click together for Normand in high school, where her hard work in the classroom and the field paired well with a fresh stage. Few, if any, knew of her past, and it soon became history instead of her daily identity.
"I loved high school and high school soccer. I got to be more independent and go to a school where no one knew your story. I wasn't known as the sick kid anymore. I felt like I had a fresh start. And with high school soccer, it really pushed me to succeed and gave me that extra leverage to think, 'Wow, I have something here; I'm not just any normal kid.'"
Despite her late start putting her a little behind the pack, Normand showed that her extra work had closed the gap, and she bossed the high school stage upon her arrival. It only took one varsity tryout at Ayala High School to make her impression, though she almost missed the boat. "I had no idea how high school soccer worked, and I had no idea that you had to stay in town. So, I went in and said, 'Well, I'm only going to try out one day because I had to leave the next day,' she recalled. "So, I had one day to try out and show them everything I had, and then we left….but I made the varsity team, and I was like, 'wow, I guess I am better than I thought.'"
The freshman goalkeeper went on to play every minute of every game on a CIF playoff team and earned All-Palomares League Honors.
Yet another twist then slammed into Grayton's life, as well as the world's, as COVID-19 crashed her sophomore year, forcing her to stare back into her previous medical history. "The doctors had contacted a lot of patients and said this is something you had to be super careful with. But my parents were very on top of it and told me what I could and could not do. So, when everyone else was going back to soccer, I couldn't go; I couldn't train. I had to wait at least the extra two months after to kind of wait for my parents to finally say, like, okay, like, I don't think you're going to get that sick."
Yet that delay did not snuff out Normand's joy on the field, as the Bulldog stopper continued to excel over the next two seasons as life returned to normal. Things became complicated, however, in her senior season, when a tumor surfaced and threatened to cast another chaotic storm as she neared the end of her high school story.
She had noticed the lump on her lower hip during the summer heading into her senior year. Her inner voice suspected the worst, while her outer voice stayed silent. Normand tried ignoring it for as long as possible, until its growth and subsequent pain pushed her to share the information with her mom. The hospital trip was swift, and the consensus was clear: they needed to act immediately before the tumor grew and had the chance to spread.
"Hearing that. I thought my whole life was going to be over," voiced Normand. "I'm not going to have soccer anymore. I'm going right back into the track that I had to grow up with. I thought to myself, 'Everyone else is already choosing colleges. Am I even going to be able to go to college now? Am I even going to be able to continue in sports?'"
A repeat of a trying season left Normand with more doubts than certainties and strained her active church life and relationship with the Lord into a week-to-week battle just to interact with her faith. Still, she prayed, and still, she hoped. "I [remember] I was in my room just thinking, 'Please don't be anything, please. I will do anything right now. Just don't let it be me again.'"
Her prayer was answered then and there. The tumor hadn't spread, and the doctors were able to remove it in short succession.
Normand was without soccer for four months following the removal of her tumor during the last year of high school soccer. But she was not without change, developing a nuanced faith that helped fill the void.
"I went to bed one night, and I just remember being in the room and just praying and apologizing for waiting and how I had handled everything. Being distant from God and everyone else. That's when I said I need to fix my belief. I need to fix my faith. I need to start leaning on God. And that was the turning point for me. Ever since then, I've said this is my life, and this is who I am. I'm leaning on God, and I could not be more grateful."
With her Ayala High School soccer career in the books, Grayton imagined she'd stop playing the sport for good, but her performance at her final high school showcase piqued the interest of Ian Woodhead, the Santiago Canyon College women's soccer head coach. Normand prayed about it for a week before committing to the Orange Empire Conference side and would spend two years with the Hawks. She played in 25 matches and helped the squad push to the third round of the Regional Tournament in 2024.
"I remember exactly where I saw Grayton play for the first time," relayed Woodhead. "It was on Field Six at Silverlakes in Norco during a high school tournament over the Holidays. You could hear her bellowing instructions to her defenders from two fields over. She had both presence and athleticism in goal. Getting to meet her, she had a polite, southern drawl, and once Grayton committed to Santiago Canyon College, she was all in. Grayton is just a very positive, uplifting person. She loved playing at Santiago Canyon, just as she has playing for Emily [Reynolds] and the Vanguard Lions. Grayton deserves this recognition."
As her two-year stint wrapped up, Normand left the junior college level with a cluster of offers, but found none felt like a true fit for the next stage of her career. It was then she thought of Vanguard, a program she had scrimmaged against during her freshman season with SCC. Coincidentally, it was a friend's dad who happened to know VU's men's soccer head coach, Jesus (Chuy) Miramontes, who eventually got Grayton connected with the women's skipper, Emily Reynolds. A tryout was extended, and the day was just about everything she could have wanted.
"I instantly thought to myself, 'I hope I get an offer here because I love it,'" smiled Normand. I love these people. I love the school. I love the campus. There was an immediate feeling that, you know that this is your home. You know that this is your place."
Normand was a Lion in no time, but with four goalkeepers vying for the same spot, the junior did not see action in her first season in 2025. It was the following campaign, amid injuries, that the veteran keeper had her chance, stepping in between the sticks and showing her quality so far in 2026. She has held the starting spot as the Blue and Gold's number one since August 29.
"When Grayton tried out for the team in the spring, we could tell right away that she had fight in her. Her first season with us, she was so eager to learn and work to become the best she could be for the team. Then, this year, she pushed herself every session to be ready, and when her moment came, she stepped up big for the team. She is an amazing example of playing with gratitude and grit, and I'm so glad she's been with us these past two years," relayed coach Reynolds.
"I really didn't think I was going to get the chance to play," revealed Normand. "So being in the position that I am now, I thought, 'Wow, I finally reached the point that I've been praying for. It's all been answered by God.' I know it was Him watching over me and listening to my prayers every single day."
This season, Normand has helped the Lions to their most wins since joining NCAA DII, and VU is in the hunt for its first Pacific West Conference postseason berth. She currently sits fourth in the league in shutouts (three), sixth in total saves (32), and earned PacWest Player of the Week honors in September with a career-best 10 saves at #24 Cal State Los Angeles.
Grayton is happy to reflect on all that God has blessed her with throughout her journey, nor will she forget what He brought her through. Her steady progression forward has never halted her from looking around her to support others who have shared her hardship with cancer, a virtue she's put into action by frequently supporting cancer foundations.
"I've been involved for as long as I can remember," Normand documented. "I started getting involved with the Leukemia Lymphoma Society (LLS, rebranded as Blood Cancer United), though, and their walks for leukemia survivors for the past six years, ever since they started them during my junior year of high school."
The cancer walks offer a unique opportunity to come together, honor, and support those impacted by cancer. Registered participants receive white (carried by patients and survivors), gold (carried in memory of loved ones lost to cancer), or red (carried by supporters, family, friends, and community members) color-coded lanterns to stand in solidarity and support those enduring the hardship of cancer and its long-lasting effects.
Normand's engagement with the cancer walks has granted her the chance to connect and support both herself and others who need it on a deeper level. She credits her father as the prime example in her life who demonstrated how to support others.
"My dad has always taught me that one of the most rewarding acts is going up to someone and asking, 'Hey, can I pray with you?' I've watched him go up to countless people and learn their stories and show that there's never enough prayer for those going through something. Now, the walks give me an added opportunity to spread the word, pray with others, and show people there's so much more if you just look into it."
Normand's story sheds light on a harrowing illness that has hit the lives of many, though she stands today as a beacon for keeping one's faith at the forefront. Even when one feels engulfed by helplessness in the face of something they cannot control, she urges others to put their stock in the Lord.
"You cannot stop believing in your faith. There's just so much more to being an athlete. When I look back, I always regret my senior year of high school, when I didn't lean on my faith, because I know I would've been an even stronger person now. But I also know it's never too late. You can always trust in your faith and continue your walk with God."
The VU keeper continues this walk, with the same principles in mind, with one regular season game left in her collegiate career. An arduous but edifying expedition that has laid the groundwork for a continued inspirational journey ahead.
"I'm grateful for the present, because my life could have been taken away like that. God gave me a second chance, and He gave me the opportunity to spread my story and His word and to show all what He's done throughout my life. In all our stories. He's always going to be there."
Normand will continue her walk this Saturday, October 24th, with a Light the Night walk at Mike Ward Park in Irvine. More details can be found about this event and Blood Caner Untied at the top of this article.
