Hundreds of paper daisies, art supplies, and presents have come in to Nebraska Medicine's Buffett Cancer Center for a little girl battling cancer named Daisy.
Daisy Anguiano, 11, is fighting Ewing's sarcoma, a rare type of cancer that occurs in bones or in the soft tissue around the bones. Daisy is a bit of a celebrity around the hospital, known for her bright and positive attitude, as she battled cancer in 2016 as a 9-year-old. Her doctor calls her his hero, other patients say she's beyond inspiring.
"I met Daisy when I was in treatment here having a stem cell transplant. If you see a child doing it with a big smile on their face, you figure, I can do it too," Nancy Marty, a former patient said.
In September 2017, Daisy's cancer came back. She had to undergo surgery and chemotherapy. Another former patient heard about the news, and wanted to help the little girl who inspired her.
"Everybody wants to do something for people but they don't know what to do," Ashli Brehm said.
Brehm, a mother and breast cancer survivor herself says she couldn't imagine going through cancer as a child. She heard about Daisy's diagnosis, and recalled the vibrant girl she met as they were both getting treatment in 2016. Brehm shared a blog asking for paper daisies for a birthday surprise. She called it "Daisies for Daisy."
Flowers came in from Florida to Pennsylvania, Iowa and Nebraska. The furthest gifts came from Alaska.
"Thank you so much," Daisy said when she say the outpouring, overwhelmed and almost lost for words.
Then of course, in true Daisy fashion, the birthday festivities didn't stop there. The brave, bright, patient took to the hospital hallways to pass out some of her flowers, ready to pay it forward.
