Ellie's Gift
Nicole Koerner was on the way to pick up wrapping paper when she got her daughter Ellie's test results.
It was just days before Christmas, and the seemingly healthy four-year-old had developed what looked like a rash on her entire body. Hours later, Ellie was being transported to The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia to begin treatment for Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL). "The world comes to a screeching halt really quickly," Nicole says. "It took me a week to accept that the tests weren’t wrong, and that there wasn’t some mistake."
There was no mistake, and Ellie began chemotherapy on Christmas Day. "It's definitely not the Christmas you expect as a parent," says Nicole, as husband Dave and three-year-old son Matthew joined her and Ellie to spend the holiday at the hospital. "The Children's Hospital did an amazing job making us feel at home that day, and a big part of that was the Ronald McDonald Family Room. We had a nice home-cooked dinner on Christmas night," Nicole says. "It's the little things like that you take for granted, that take your mind off of cancer for 5 minutes."
As Ellie spent the next month in the hospital, Nicole rarely was out of her site except to visit the Family Room. "I'd go just to have a change of scenery, a homemade meal, see other families. Otherwise, it's just easy to shut the door and feel sorry for yourself."
Ellie responded very well to her treatment, and the Koerner family knew that they wanted to help support fellow families just like others had helped them. In March, when over 600 of their friends and family attended a benefit for Ellie at Dave & Buster's, they had their opportunity. After covering Ellie's medical bills, the Koerners used the donated funds to establish the Ellie Koerner Leukemia Foundation to help families while their children are being treated for pediatric cancer.
Through Ellie's foundation, the Koerner family gave $10,000 to the Philadelphia Ronald McDonald House to establish a meal program at the Oncology Family Room. Families will now be treated to Sunday brunches twice a month, provided by Roy's Restaurant (already a dedicated dinner donor to the Family Room). "It is so important to us to have a direct impact on families and caregivers. If this program makes someone else smile or feel good, then we have accomplished our mission," Nicole says.
To kick off this partnership, the Koerners hosted a picnic lunch at the Family Room on the Fourth of July – Ellie's fifth birthday. "When this all started, we never envisioned such a happy birthday in a million years," Nicole says. "We are so happy to be able to see the good in all of this, and to be able to teach both of our children about giving in the process." It is a lesson that Ellie will be able to take with her to her first day of school when she starts kindergarten this fall.
The Koerners' goal is to continue the meal program through at least 2010, when Ellie is due to finish her treatments. "The gratitude we feel just goes beyond words. We hope this can show how grateful we are, both saying thank you and supporting families at the same time." If you would like to learn more about Ellie and her foundation, please visit www.onetuffgirl.com.
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