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Local 2nd Grader Given The Honor Of Taking Part In National Braille Challenge

ELKRIDGE, Md. (WJZ) -- Khloe Deleon-Talbert lost her eyesight to cancer when she was just 3 years old, but that hasn't stopped the second grader at Ducketts Lane Elementary School from accomplishing her goals, and much more.

"She is an amazing student," Ducketts Lane Elementary School Principal Heidi Balter said. "She's independent, she can walk down the hallway with her peers and eat in the cafeteria, and she's fearless on the playground. She is hard working, determined, and a little feisty, and I think you need to be when you have things that you need to overcome."

Khloe not only overcomes, she excels in writing and reading in braille. She's so smart that she's heading to the National Braille Challenge in Los Angeles.

"One of the adults told me my sister got all the money to go to California. I got on my knees and started crying a lot because I can't believe she made it," Khloe's brother, Jayden Deleon-Talbert, said.

Khloe's friends and teacher say she's an inspiration, and what she lacks in vision, she makes up for in heart.

"She's a very enthusiastic kid, a very conscientious worker," said teacher Helen Tyler, who has taught Khloe for five years. "She uses sound and her sense of smell. She can tell you who people are sometimes by what perfume they're wearing, or their type of shoes they're walking in."

Khloe's mother, brother and godmother will accompany her to the National Braille Challenge June 15 and 16.

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