“When she was born, her knees were backward, her legs were all the way up to her head, she had hip dysplasia, and a club foot. We didn’t know if she would ever walk, if she would ever run.”
The doctors were true miracle workers as they significantly improved Addie’s condition and enabled her to walk, and this girl wouldn’t settle for anything less than having completely normal legs and knees.
This little 75 year old woman was about to be arrested and taken away in hand cuffs when a group of young boys in Texas stepped up. They never even met this woman but they didn’t want to see her got to jail because her grass was over 18 inches tall.
Gerry Suttle is the 75-years-old woman, she was issued a notice to appear in front of a judge regarding grass on her land being unkept. The law states that grass needs to be under 18 inches, Suttle said she was unaware of this law.
The woman also said that she hadn’t received the letter regarding a court date with the judge. Unfortunately, when she failed to appear in court a warrant was issued for her arrest.
“It’s a summer day, we don’t have season passes yet to Warren Falls. What else could we do? Just go out and help some people”
The boys knew that she need their help she was 75 years old it was the ‘least we could do’ one of the boys said.
The boys effort was about more then cutting grass in the overgrown yard it was about keeping her from going to jail, being kind, and treating others with respect.
Shortly after the boys began mowing the lawn, other neighbors in the area began to notice their efforts. It was over 90 degrees and the boys were using push mowers to mow the large lot.
That’s when some of the neighbors showed up with riding mowers and began to help the boys with the enormous job.
With everyone’s help the lawn was mowed and looking beautiful in a short 2 hours.
“I cannot believe this. I’m very seldom without words. but this is one time, you mark it down in history. that I didn’t have something to say”
She couldn’t believe it! These young boys would go out of their way to help an old woman like her, for no reason. Her faith in the younger generation has been restored.
“I really wouldn’t want her coming out here doing it or paying a bunch of money. when we could have just done it for free”
If we all did one thing a day randomly to show others in the world kindness. The world would certainly be a much better place to live.
“Her dream dress. She loved that dress SO much. While at the hospice, she would talk to people about how great the wedding was going to be.”
“I lay motionless in bed, both happy and devastated.”
The problem they discovered in the ultrasound could cause a problem for their son Dewey’s development. Dewey was immediately taken to the NICU for 132 days during which the doctors tried to work out what the problem was. During a routine operations when the doctors were trying to insert a feeding tube the precious baby boy died.
The Butler’s were beyond heartbroken with the loss of their son. When a nurse just one floor above them intervened and gave them a lifeline in their time of grief. The nurse worked in the NICU and had grown close to the Butler’s. She called to tell them she knew a little boy on the 5th floor named Brax who needed to be loved. She knew the couple had expressed interest in fostering.
Brax was 11-months-old; he hadn’t left the hospital since his birth. His parents abandoned him since they weren’t able to care for him. The poor little man suffered from pulmonary hypertension, chronic respiratory failure, and tracheomalacia. Doctors believed that Brax’s condition would improve as he got older.
As soon as the Butler’s brought Brax into their home, his health improved. Josh and Katie loved him so much, they made it official in September adopting Brax.
They will always miss their Dewey. They know he is free from pain and they feel his loss. They also understand that his death, they were able to make room in their hearts for another child who needed love.
Crissy’s story starts at the end, describing all the emotions and feelings of the loss her family suffered during this time.
“My son, now a junior in high school, has no father to teach him how to drive, to talk to him about girls, to help him choose a college— nor to see him reach all of these milestones. My husband was all about his family— he did everything for us, unconditionally— which we took for granted like most people do. Now that he is not here, we feel lost and scared and alone.”Her husband had been working hard at getting healthy and losing weight when suddenly he developed a fever. In their entire 26 years of marriage, Crissy’s husband had been pretty healthy only getting sick once. So when his fever continued with no other symptoms, she rushed him to the emergency room.
“He had been having drenching sweats— so bad he would have to change his clothes and bed sheets,” Crissy wrote. “Urgent care tested his urine and diagnosed him with raging kidney infection, and prescribed him antibiotics. The fever and sweats went away but he still felt weak and not well.”When her husband got worse and worse with each passing day he decided to leave work and go to the hospital. In the 12 hours that followed he went from joking to being in the ICU on a ventilator.
All the test came back negative for scarlet fever, strep, meningitis but the doctors determined his liver and kidneys were shutting down. When Crissy’s husband’s condition continued to get worse, he was transferred to a center that specializes in liver malfunction.
“They set him up on dialysis and they awakened him periodically to make sure his brain was functioning. After two days in this hospital, he was showing signs of respiratory distress and his prognosis was poor.”Finally, they received a diagnosis. Crissy’s husband was suffering from a Babesia— a tick-borne illness that attacks the red blood cells. Because he did not have a spleen, the infection was particularly severe. Doctor’s gave Crissy’s husband medication and she left feeling more optimistic than she had in a long time. Sadly, at 4:30 a.m. the next morning, she got a call urging her to go to the hospital.
“His blood pressure was dropping, and his heart was giving in,” she wrote.Crissy says her husband’s death was a tragedy that could have been prevented. She is hoping to bring awareness to others on this parasitic infection. Especially those who do not have spleens or are otherwise immuno-compromised. “I lost the father of my children because he was bitten by a tick and the infection that developed is not widely known. If the doctors were able to diagnose him one, two, or four days earlier, might he have survived? We will never know.”“Within 2 hours, I watched my handsome husband of 23 years pass away.”
“My stepdad was battling lung cancer at the time and I wanted to do something that had an impact,” Scantling told ABC. “I thought, ‘Oh how sweet would it be and I put a post on Facebook asking if anyone knew of little kids battling cancer.’”Since then, she’s photographed childhood cancer survivors for a project she calls “Little Heroes.” But these three special little girls from Oklahoma stood out to her from all the rest. Their photograph, featuring all three bald and angelic little girls hugging each other went viral shortly after it was shot.
“They walked in and the second they saw each other they were like, ‘Hey, you don’t have any hair either. You’re going through what I’m going through,’” Scantling recalled. “Everyone was quiet at first, but after a few minutes they were sharing stories from the hospital.”Rheann Franklin ,6, center, was battling a rare brain tumor. Ainsley Peters, was 5 and on the right, was facing leukemia. And Rylie Hughey, on the left, she was only three, but living with kidney cancer.
“It was just like a bunch of friends getting together,” Scantling remembered. “They were bouncing off the walls, having fun, like, ‘Oh my best friends are here.’”Scantling decided to make it an annual tradition. She plans to keep photographing Rheann, Ainsley, and Rylie throughout their lives, and hopes they will continue to give hope to people around the world.
“If I had to sum up Lora’s photos in one word, it would be ‘hope,’” said Rylie’s mother. “Strength comes in numbers! I hope that another family in the middle of a battle with cancer can look at the photo and be inspired.”For this year’s photo, the girls were joined by a special guest — three-year-old Connor Lloyd.
Lloyd heard that the young boy had been diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, she invited him to pose with the girls.
“Sometimes you never know how much time you have,” she explained to his mother. She adds that Connor is responding well to treatment. so we should all expect to see him in the next photo as well. “Connor will be in treatment for another three years, and yet he’s always so happy and brave. Just like the girls, he’s an inspiration,” she said. “I’ll keep taking this photo every year for as long as they want me to. They’re inspiring to all of us.”
