Unbreakable: The Kaitlyn Bradley Story
1/27/2026
Before the game began, Kaitlyn Bradley’s mom knew something wasn’t right.
She looked tired and wasn’t acting like herself during warmups. After the second set, her parents realized they needed to go to the hospital.
Doctors would later find a mass in her throat. Kaitlyn had lymphoma.
Volleyball had always been a constant in Kaitlyn’s life, both in the sand and in the gym.
Her sister, Taylor, also played beach volleyball for TCU for head coach Hector Gutierrez. Watching her sister compete as a Horned Frog didn’t just show her the program, it pulled her in.
From the moment she stepped on campus, something clicked.
I realized how big the culture is and the competitive drive to win that everyone has here. Ever since I stepped foot on campus, and I came to watch my sister play, that was the moment where I was like ‘this is where I want to be’.
In late September during her sophomore year of high school, everything changed.
“I literally wore my jersey straight to the hospital, and we did every test imaginable. We did a full-body MRI, we did a CT, all those things.”
After countless tests, they discovered a mass in her throat, and she was diagnosed with Stage 2A Hodgkin’s Lymphoma.
The doctors told her that the prognosis was hopeful. Hodgkin’s Lymphoma has a high survival rate, but she still faced months of demanding treatment.
While her teammates struggled to process her diagnosis, Kaitlyn carried herself with quiet composure. She accepted the diagnosis and focused on what came next.
The odds were encouraging; however, her process was not. She underwent three different rounds of chemotherapy, but encountered some trouble along the way. It turned out, Kaitlyn was allergic to one of the rounds, which caused them to divert treatment plans.
Daily steroids were also required, and with that came steroid-induced diabetes. Suddenly, on top of everything else, she had to manage her blood sugar just to endure her cancer treatment. Kaitlyn had to read nutrition labels and inject insulin simply to make it through.
Before learning of her cancer diagnosis, Kaitlyn was already committed to TCU. While in the hospital, Hector and then-assistant coach Majo Orellana sent her flowers to show their support during her treatment.
I’m not even on campus yet and you’re sending me all this love and support. It just felt like another reason to be like this is the place (TCU) that I should go.
On January 6, 2020, Kaitlyn rang the bell. Her treatment was over. She had beaten cancer.
“It’s just so surreal because it’s not really things that people go through every day. You never think that you’re going to have to do it. Once you get to ring that bell it’s just like ‘you did it, you did something that most people don’t have to go through’. It was pretty epic.”
Shortly after ringing the bell, she tried to begin playing indoor volleyball again. However, her treatment had taken away so much muscle that she was essentially unable to compete as she had before.
When COVID shut everything down, it gave Kaitlyn time to rebuild muscle, confidence and belief in herself.
The following year, she competed at USAV Beach Nationals in Florida and won. Winning a National Championship had always been a goal for her, but earning it this way made it extra special.
This moment wasn’t just a title. It was proof to herself that she was back, that she could still compete.
It was surreal. There were really talented people there, and I did have a great partner, but it’s not like one person is going to win the whole thing, it’s going to be a team effort. Winning that made me feel super accomplished for all of the things that I had to go through.
When Kaitlyn arrived in Fort Worth on TCU’s campus as a freshman, it reaffirmed what she already believed. This was where she belonged.
Now, Kaitlyn is thriving on the TCU beach volleyball program, and after defeating cancer she feels that she can deal with anything that could come her way athletically and personally.
Kaitlyn still acknowledges January 6 every year, and her teammates at TCU surprise her with something every year to signify the anniversary.
While with the Horned Frogs, she has been a part of the best stretch in program history, but the wins are only part of her story. Every win and every championship is a reminder of how far she has come and how unbreakable she has proven to be.
