Testimonials

Haleigh Cassada

Haleigh was a beautiful and vibrant little girl. She was a Daddy’s Girl to say the least, a Princess to say the most, and the light of her Bubba’s life. Everyone that met her loved her at first sight. In 2005, at the age of 4, Haleigh was diagnosed with stage IV, high risk, neuroblastoma. As with any child diagnosed with cancer, Haleigh was forced to grow up way too fast and endure things that most adults would not even want to think about going through. During her fight, she proved herself to be very strong and courageous. She fought the fight “Princess Style” and earned the Great Reward and her angel wings on September 21, 2007.

My son, Will, is not a cancer patient. We found him floating in our pool, blue and unresponsive. No pulse. My husband did CPR and was able to revive him before the ambulance arrived. We had no idea if there would be any brain damage or not. Thursday had been a grueling day for us. He was taken off all sedation. We all expected that he would be awake within a few hours.It was 14 hours before he was awake enough to extubate. That was the day we all broke. He wasn't waking up. He'd wake up a little, but he was expressionless. He didn't seem to recognize anyone. Just before I came to the lobby, I had gotten to hold him, but he was very stiff...he wouldn't snuggle, and my heart was just broken. It's such a roller coaster ride.

I had just come out from holding him when I came out to give an e-mail update to our family and friends via the PICU computer, when the receptionist there referred me to a room there right across the hall. "Free gift for your child," she said. Something for Will? Ok, so I went on in. There was a beautiful blond lady there with a huge smile. All of these women seemed like they knew what I was going through. They seemed excited to see me. It was an odd feeling, I have to say. I wanted to say, don't you know I'm the woman who wasn't watching her child well enough? Don't you know I'm the woman whose son nearly drowned last week because I was too busy getting her family ready for church? I was an emotional wreck. I didn't know, Jessica, when I invited you to bring Will's gift to him yourself, how painful that must have been for you to revisit that place. Then you came and escorted me downstairs to the "spa room." I wouldn't have gone unless you had taken me down there.

Words can't...I just cannot explain to you how much all of that meant to me. I got the massage first...I don't even know her name...but she was fantastic. She quoted Scriptures here and there...she didn't cite them or preach, but I recognized her quotes as Scripture. My shoulders and back were so sore from all that I had been carrying, and from not sleeping in the best conditions. That massage got me through until we were amazingly able to go home on Monday. I didn't really know what to do next...someone referred me to the snack table. There was juice and chocolate covered strawberries...no one eats well while in the PICU. Then I went around to the mini-manicure spot. While there, my mom came in and said, "he's snuggling, you gotta come see this!" I was so grateful...I took the little gift set, and ran up to snuggle with my son. I had been renewed and recharged from the inside out.

Since then he has made great strides....in fact, he's perfect today. You'd never guess in a million years that he had gone through what he went through that week in the PICU. On Wednesday, I was alone with Will (we call him God's Will) in the room. I heard someone walk up behind me...he was taller than my husband, and I could hear him breathing. I thought it was a doctor. I turned to look, and no one was there! I turned back to Will and could still hear the breathing behind me. It was amazing, but I was not afraid. There was a familiarity to the presence....thankfully, I know Him. I know Who was with me. Since he woke up, he's been waving across the room and pointing to beings that only he can see. God's Will is a little miracle, no doubt. But there were more than just unseen angels in the PICU that day...there were also very visible ones...YOU and your crew! THANK YOU! Will's Mom