Five-year-old cancer patient becomes princess for a day
Brielle Kelly has been in and out of the hospital for most of her young life.
Now five years old, the Duncannon, Pa., girl underwent surgery on her small intestine just days after her birth, and had to receive a bowel transplant last year.
Through it all, Brielle's mother, Tina Kelly, says her daughter remained cheerful.
“She was always very happy,” Brielle's mom, Tina Kelly, tells NBC. “She was fun and silly, a normal 5-year-old who loves princesses and horses and dancing.”
Then the cancer hit. This past January, a routine scan found lymphoma. She's currently undergoing chemotherapy and will need four more rounds of the treatment before she'll be eligible for her second small intestine transplant.
Brielle's cheery attitude has since faded, and her mother says she started resisting her doctor appointments. Heartbroken, Tina reached out to Jamie's Dream Team, a Pittsburgh-based charitable organization that grants wishes to those with illnesses. She originally asked for a swing set for her daughter, but the organization has something else in mind.
“I said, ‘That’s nothing for what she’s been through,'” the founder of Jamie's Dream Team, Jamie Holmes, tells NBC. “'We do these princess parties. What if we did a princess party for her and her sister?'”
Brielle's princess fantasy day included a royal makeover for Brielle and her seven-year-old sister — sparkling ball gown and crown included, of course — and a horse-drawn carriage ride to the The Hotel Hershey where she was the guest of honour at a party of more than 100 guests, all in fairytale-worthy attire.
Brielle posed for photos with princesses — and even Santa dropped by.
"She had a great time," Tina Kelly tells NBC. "When the music started, her sister pushed her around in the wheelchair with the other girls on the dance floor. It made them both feel like real princesses."
In terms of boosting her spirits, it appears the princess party actually worked. Brielle's doctor noticed a difference in his patient's determination to get better after the event.
"When I saw her Monday and Tuesday, she looked the best she’s looked since I’ve known her," Dr. Randy Windreich, an attending pediatric oncologist at the Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, tells NBC. "It's made her want to get up and stand more and walk more and be more active. To have a day like that gives you more motivation. It was huge. Huge for the entire family."
-- By Nadine Kalinauskas
