When Little Girl Comes Home With A Bulging Backpack, Her Mom Fears The Worst

What Is She Hiding?

When her daughter arrives home late from school with her backpack bursting at the seams she expects the worst.
When she finally sees the wads of cash inside, she realizes that this is something that her daughter set up.

A Life of Challenges

Tired after her long delivery, the young mother and anxious father welcomed their infant daughter into the world and they immediately realized something was wrong. It appeared that her legs were not like that of other infants.
Terrified, they looked to the doctors and saw the worry on their faces, they knew instantly that their baby was in for a long road ahead.

An Amazing Recovery

Within a few short days, the tiny girl was to undergo her first of a series of intricate surgeries, all with the outcome of correcting her legs. Each surgery left the new parents broken and scared, but they had to remain strong for the new life they had created and they drew comfort from the fact that the baby was not in any pain.
Straight away, they began searching for elusive answers.

She Can Do Anything

After countless visits with doctors, they determined that their baby had been born with Larson syndrome, a rare genetic disorder that only 1 in 1000 people has. The disorder affects the development of bones throughout the body. Some as harmless as a hammer toe, but often with far more serious and far-reaching complications.
They needed to know exactly to how great an extent this affected their newborn. The answers were more terrible than they could dream.

A Normal Life

They had named her Addie and the parents clearly remember the day they were told the full extent of her health problems. Her legs were not straight and would affect her ability to walk. The doctors told the still hopeful parents that they feared she would never be able to walk.
But, refusing to give in, they knew they would do whatever it took to give Addie a normal life. But where did they begin?

Time to Go Home

Finally, after four surgeries to her legs the new family could go and start their life at home and out of the hospital.
Even though the Texas Scottish Rite Hospital does all it can to make both the parents and children feel as though they weren’t in a hospital at all, it was still a relief to finally go home.

A Happy Addie

Addie was growing up beautifully, just as any regular child. She was mobile in her own way and her parents were just happy that even though her legs looked awkward, they actually didn’t cause Addie any pain, for her it was normal.
There was a long road ahead for all of them and but where it was leading they would only find out much later.

Family Support

By the age of 7 Addie had had up to 65 surgeries to correct her legs and the perseverance of this fearless young girl, her endlessly supportive parents, and the amazing hospital had gotten her to the point where she is able to walk and run like any healthy young child.
But more was in store for this family, just out of sight.

What a Sum

Because Addie had spent so much of her young life at Texas Scottish Rite Hospital, either in surgery, recovering or going through physical therapy.
She was always happy to be out and about, running around, going to school, and making friends, that no one even suspected she was hiding something huge.

The Hidden Treasure

Addie spent a lot of time away from home, she wasn’t at the hospital and her parents suspected that she was just enjoying playing in the Summer sun with her school friends, as all children should. They didn’t know that Addie was far from playing.
Her mom only suspected something was amiss when her daughter’s backpack kept coming home bigger and bigger, until one day she had to look inside.

A Birthday Wish

After her daughter was snugly asleep for the night, her mother went to find the growing backpack. She just had to know what her daughter was doing lugging something so huge in and out of the house every day.
But when she unzipped it her heart stopped as piles upon piles of cash began spilling out. Where on earth had her 7-year-old found thousands of dollars in cash?

A Selfless Act

Afraid at what Addie may be involved in, she thought of waking her up right then and there to confront her but decided that she needed time to calm down and would ask Addie in the morning.
What Addie had been hiding would soon be confronted but the reason behind the act was going to be astounding.

Joining the Cause

The next morning, a curious yet nervous mother broached the subject of the enormous sum of money her daughter had somehow gotten into her possession.
She was terrified of what she may hear, but she should have trusted her daughter because when Addie began to tell her story, her mother’s eyes filled with tears and her heart thudded with pride.

Raising Money

She began, completely oblivious of the magnitude of her campaign and her mother’s shock. “I just hold a sign that says, ‘For my birthday wish, “I want to raise $8,000 for Texas Scottish Rite Hospital.’”
That was when her mother’s heart broke with love for this sweet child who had gone through such immense trials, she would do absolutely anything to help Addie get her birthday wish.

Donations Coming In

Her mom could now be seen standing alongside Addie at the intersection in a busy neighborhood in Houston Texas.
It was not long before people began to talk about the generosity of this tiny girl, who once doctors thought would never walk, was now standing in the Texas heat on her own two feet trying to give back to the hospital that had given her so much.

Going Viral

Her story was soon published, and with a typical snowball effect, it went viral and was even picked up by many leading newspapers and TV channels.
Her story just kept appearing all over the internet and her dreams of $8,000 were not only met but exceeded. Just how far could she go?

A Budding Entrepreneur

With the help of her mother, and in an extremely short space of time, Addie had raised almost $20,000. And it wasn’t showing any signs of slowing down yet.
An anonymous letter and a check arrived on her doorstep one day, enclosing the crazy amount of $50,000 to be put towards helping children just like Addie. But just why did Addie take on this huge task for the hospital?

Every Penny Counts

As we know, Addie was born with this terrible hardship. Her parents were not even remotely prepared for all the costs it would involve. Nevertheless, they were determined to help her lead a healthy life.
Addie’s family accepted the generosity of the hospital in her time of need. Hospitals like Texas Scottish Rite actually run on donations. They rely on donations to provide the care that children need — even if their families can’t afford it.

Beauty Inside and Out

The media played a massive part in letting Addie realize her birthday wish. They spread her message far and wide, and the response from the public was outstanding.
This young girl had touched the hearts of everyone, never focusing on the negatives in her life. She said, “I want to give the money to the hospital for new prosthetics for other children like me.”