Think of the Children!

Once upon a time my mom had brain cancer and I had to drive her to her daily treatments at the U of U hospital. Each day at the same time, I watched a little boy, no more than 8 years old, get wheeled out of the radiation lab in his wheel chair before heading back to his room at Primary Children’s. It was apparent that whatever cancer he had ravaged his little body and the chemotherapy had robbed him of his hair. His wheelchair was red and had a tray where he could color or play, although he rarely looked up for those things when leaving the treatment center. He had a crown that would sometimes be on his head, and sometimes be hanging on the handle of the wheelchair. I will never forget that boy, even though I never knew his name or anything about him. I spent every day for months watching him get wheeled out of treatment and thinking about how much courage that little guy had to be dealing with such an adult thing.

I bring up the little boy with the crown because I heard something on the radio yesterday that made me so angry and I wanted to paint a picture that would tug at your heartstrings. Some terrible person stole over 100 Xbox games and DVD’s from Primary Children’s Medical Center last month. Those movies and games are used for kids during their chemotherapy treatments, so they have something to keep their mind occupied while they have to sit and have chemicals pumped into their little bodies. As if what those kids are going through isn’t terrible enough, now their games and movies are taken away too? Not cool, whoever stole them. I was shocked to find no news stories about this, other than the radio talk which only happened because a listener wrote in asking for help spreading the word. So here I am, my little attempt to spread the word to anyone who reads my random rambles. Primary Children’s is accepting child-friendly Xbox games and movies to help build the collection back up. As a frequent patron to Target, I know you can find kid’s movies there for as cheap as $5, and Christmas sales have begun so I’m sure we can all find good deals on a Hannah Montana game. Once you have purchased said DVD’s or games, you can take them to the front desk at Primary Children’s and they will graciously accept the donations.

Think of the children! Think of the little boy and his crown. Think of the kids who don’t get to play soccer or go to recess because they are stuck in a hospital bed fighting a terrible illness. I would go out on a limb to say that the movies and the Xbox might be the best part of their days at Primary Children’s. So let’s all brave the snow storms to take our selfish selves to Target this weekend, buy a DVD or game and help build that collection back up! Think of the children!