By Anne Halliwell

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On Sunday morning, Kelly Melton carried a nerf gun that reached past his shoulder onto the Memorial Coliseum stage for the annual talent show. A few minutes later, he put it to good use against UK athletes and fellow cancer patients.

Harrison Melton said that the family came to much of the 24-hour dance marathon to support Alpha Delta Pi – which Kelly refers to as the “Apple Pie girls- the sorority that raises money in Kelly’s name for the DanceBlue Clinic.

“Everyone makes him feel welcome and special,” he said. “It’s a chance for him and the other kids to just let cancer go for two days, just feel like a normal kid.”

Kelly’s mother, Lisa, said that the marathon represents an enormous show of support.

“Lexington, for a while, was only going to the hospital and getting poked,” the Science Hill resident said. “We tried to make it a celebration of life.”

The normalcy in Kelly’s life, Lisa Melton said, is in fighting illness and being thankful for the victories.

“To know that there are people who are willing to stand for 24 hours (to raise money for him) … it sounds off, but it makes him feel normal.”

Kelly was joined by UK football players Max Strong and Landon Foster, who ran him up to the stage at the front of Memorial Coliseum to take a picture during the hourly line dance. They were joined on Sunday by basketball player Marcus Lee.

Kelly wore a “Big Blue Nation” t-shirt Saturday to support UK athletics.

“They’ve got other things they could be doing,” Lisa Melton said. “They came to support him because it’s important to him.”

Strong, a kicker, and Foster, a punter for the team, have known Kelly since April of 2013.

“We spend a lot of time with him,” Strong said. “He makes it really easy to keep coming back.”

The two started a “Kickin’ It For Kelly” fundraiser

“After you get to know him, you can’t not hang out with him,” Foster added. “He brings life to you more than you help him. He’s infectious.”

The two-hour drive in a five-person car where “the fifth person’s barely going to survive” to spend the two days playing games and talking to kids he’s met at camps could seem like a large time commitment, to another nine-year-old.

But Kelly said he likes just about everything about the marathon.

“I just do it for fun,” he said.

Kelly’s doing well and continuing treatment, Lisa Melton said. He was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia at age six, which requires visits to the DanceBlue Clinic.

Emily Bowles, the “adopt a family” chair for Alpha Delta Pi, said that getting to know the Meltons has been an incredible experience.

“It’s just so rewarding,” she said. “It sort of grounds you and keeps you humble in what you do … It just kind of puts everything in perspective.”

Bowles, an elementary education senior, has participated in three marathons- the same number of years that Alpha Delta Pi has worked with the Melton family.

For her, the focus isn’t on “the c-word”- it’s a celebration of how far the patients and families have come.

“We stand for 24 hours, but it’s nothing compared to what they do,” she said.