DINWIDDIE COUNTY, Va. -- Three-year-old Maddie Pierson enjoys spending her days singing at home.
But since November 4, she has had to call a hospital room at VCU Medical Center home.
Her mother, Stephanie, said it all started with a fever before it turned into leg pain. Three and a half weeks later, tests would reveal a chilling diagnosis for the family. Doctors found a rare form of leukemia that has to be treated differently.
"About 10 to 15 kids a year have been identified with this mutation," Stephanie Pierson said.
Maddie has already had her first round of chemotherapy and on Wednesday, she got a feeding tube. The little girl will have to spend her Christmas inside the walls of her hospital room.
To help her through the holiday season, her friends are using glue and glitter to make special ornaments to decorate Maddie's daycare Christmas tree.
"We have handprints that the children have painted their hands and placed on different items, we have popsicle stick snowflakes, we have reindeer, we have all different kinds of things," Cindy Johnson, who works for the Angels At Play Daycare, said.
Every single ornament is on sale to help raise money for Maddie and her family.
"Whatever you can donate, nothing is too small. We will take whatever you can give," Johnson said.
For Stephanie, the kind gesture brought a sense of peace.
"I felt an immediate, overwhelming feeling that someone is willing to go through that length of trouble to help out our family," Stephanie said.
With the ornaments comes a promise.
"We have every intention, when we get through this, to pay it forward," Stephanie said.
Stephanie said she believes in the power of prayer so those who would like to help but cannot buy an ornament are asked to say a prayer.
You can find more information about how to help here.
The daycare is located at the following location:
Angels at Play Childcare Center
5810 Boydton Plank Road
North Dinwiddie, VA 23803
804-861-8888
