Sometimes just knowing someone cares can make all the difference in the world – even if that person is a complete stranger.
That’s the way Brooklyn Entwistle, 10, felt after receiving something very special during one of her many hospital stays. After Brooklyn has had to endure what no child should.
“I felt kinda scared but there’s my sisters and everybody helped me through it,” she said.
“They treat me the same as they used to so it helps me forget about reality.”
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Last May, Brooklyn was diagnosed with osteosarcoma, otherwise known as bone cancer.
“She started chemotherapy quite quickly after that and we actually had to go to Edmonton for surgery,” Brooklyn’s mother Sheri Entwistle said.
“With rotationplasty where they actually removed the section of the affected bone.”
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She has spent 150 days in hospital since the end of May. She will need more rounds of chemotherapy and because her doses are so high, Brooklyn will be admitted to hospital every time.
“I think the toughest part is not being able to talk to my friends as much and not being able to run around and play.”
Brooklyn is one of four children and her mother said the most difficult part is not being able to take her daughter’s place or provide her with medicine that will make her better overnight.
“At times it’s stressful but at times it’s also been amazing because you see all these people kinda surrounding you and supporting you and loving you too.”
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Kindness even from complete strangers who hand-delivered a personalized basket to Brooklyn of her very own over New Years.
“I actually was really happy because I was so bored and had nothing to do and then they brought it and I was oh gosh it was something to do.”
SK Smiles for Little Warriors is like having a guardian angel on your side. Sixty baskets made with love have gone out to sick children either at home, in hospital or staying at Ronald McDonald House Saskatchewan.
Eight to 10 baskets a week, stuffed with items for that specific child and a super hero cape to help pick their spirits up.
“The one little boy put on his cape and then ran around his living room flying,” Kristy Enns, co-founder of SK Smiles for Little Warriors, said.
“They go through a lot of hard times and they’re in and out of hospital,” she said.
“So to receive something that they enjoy and that can bring a light to their day, it’s special.”
It goes to show there’s good people out there whose kindness goes above and beyond. Not because Enns and Young-Quintin have to, but because they want to.
To donate to the cause or for more information, email the group at smilesforlittlewarriors@gmail.com or click here.
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