Hearts bring hope to Moncton family facing battles with illness

MONCTON – Chris Davis and his family are trying to have a carefree Christmas, but amid the bright lights of the holidays, their hearts are dim.

Nine months ago, Davis was dealt a heavy blow when he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.

“You live your life nothing really every wrong…then you are told you have MS. It was pretty big,” he said. “It was nothing I have ever had to handle before.”

Life got worse for the family only two weeks later when Davis’ 4-year-old daughter Chloe was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia — a form of cancer. Davis was crushed.

Elizabeth Davis, Chloe’s mother, was beside herself with worry for her husband and her young daughter and struggled to make sense of it all.

“It was a lot to take in all at the same time,” she said.

Chloe was rushed to the IWK hospital in Halifax to start a two-year course of chemotherapy treatments while her father tried to put his own illness out of mind.

“For a little girl to have so much strength, it just makes me feel I have to have the same strength.” he said.

Davis said he found the strength in an unexpected place.

On the drive home to New Brunswick from one of Chloe’s treatments, the family stopped for a bite to eat.

“As I was eating my onion rings, I pulled one out and said ‘that looks like a heart in the centre,'” he said.

Elizabeth snapped a picture, and from that point on, the couple started seeing hearts everywhere they went.

“You just see all these things that look like little hearts and it’s kind of cool,” Chris said.

After Chloe found a heart-shaped leaf on a walk in the woods, the family said they knew it was more than a coincidence.

Davis started posting his daughter’s heart pictures on Facebook as a reminder to stay positive and the idea caught on. Friends and family from all across the country started finding their own heart pictures and posting them on her site to show their support.