Santa’s special visit to brave cancer fighter
ABRAVE little girl who is battling bone cancer got the best Christmas present of all when Santa and his elves came to see her in person.
Eight-year-old Ruth Grace Crosby can’t risk going to busy places after treatment for osteosarcoma left her with no immunity to germs. Instead a family friend teamed up with a soft play centre to arrange for Santa to surprise her at her home. Ruth Grace, who was diagnosed just 13 weeks ago, said: “It was amazing. I loved it.”
THE real Father Christmas made a special home visit to a remarkable little girl after he learned she was too poorly to come to his grotto.
Ruth Grace Crosby, eight, can’t risk going to busy places after treatment for bone cancer left her with no immunity to germs.
Instead, family friend Jenny Proctor, along with Anchors Away soft play centre in Reddish, got in touch with Santa and arranged for him to surprise her at the home she shares with mum Joanne, 37, dad Stuart, 38, and little sister Amelia, five, in Dane Bank.
Ruth Grace had no idea the special guest was coming, so she was stunned when Father Christmas and his elves walked through her door.
Ruth Grace said: “I thought I might just have to give my list to my Elf on the Shelf to take to Santa, but when he came I could give it to him and tell him what I wanted. It was amazing, I loved it.
“Santa is thousands of years old, he knew Noah who built the ark and if it wasn’t for Noah, Santa wouldn’t have any reindeer.”
Mum Joanne said: “It was lovely to have the real Father Christmas here, it was just magical for the girls.”
Just 13 weeks ago Ruth Grace seemed perfectly healthy, but started to experience a pain in her leg, which got far worse after she bumped it.
When the pain didn’t go away, she underwent tests and was diagnosed with osteosarcoma.
By chance, the lump was in an unusual position which meant it was found early, before the cancer had chance to spread.
Ruth Grace has since undergone gruelling chemotherapy, but suffered an extremely severe and rare allergic reaction called Stevens-Johnson syndrome, which left her tiny body riddled with painful blisters inside and out. Her feet were too sore for her to walk and she was unable to eat for five weeks and lost ten kilos.
She is currently at home waiting for surgery to replace part of the bone in her leg with one which has been donated by a bereaved family in Florida, followed by more chemotherapy.
Joanne added: “We are extraordinary grateful to those parents and feel so sorry for them, but it’s amazing they can do that.”
Ruth Grace will then spend months in leg casts, but despite everything she has had to go though, the brave youngster isn’t letting her illness get her down.
She quickly made friends with the other children on her ward and is looking forward to eventually being able to go back to school at St Christopher’s RC Primary in Romiley.
She even asked her mum not to cry, because ‘it won’t change anything’.
Joanne added: “She’s had a really, really rough time.
“We can’t thank people enough for all they’ve done. It’s things like that which make this journey more manageable. We want all the positive memories to outweigh the negative memories, so that’s what we want her to focus on.”
Joanne and Stuart now want to help raise aware- ness about the rare cancer.
Family and friends meanwhile, have been raising money for cancer charities and the family, to help cover any costs associated with Ruth Grace’s ongoing care.
See justgiving.com/ crowdfunding/ ruthgr acesbattle.