HOPEWELL, Va. — Two-year-old Erica "Sissy" Milton sat and watched in amazement Friday as volunteers flooded her family's Colonial Heights yard to build the young cancer patient a play set.
The Virginia-based Roc Solid Foundationsurprised Sissy by doing what its volunteers do best, build hope for families fighting pediatric cancer.
“When they get this diagnosis, on those darkest days that they go through, complete strangers come together... so that they know they are not alone," volunteer Steven Caron said.
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Sissy's playset was about the 30th time Caron volunteered with Roc Solid.
“We know that we can’t cure cancer, that’s up to the doctors. But we can change the way this family lives with cancer," he said.
Sissy's mother Taylor Milton called the volunteers and their work "amazing."
"She is overjoyed for sure," Milton said about Sissy watching the crews work.
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Sissy spent eight months at St. Jude Children’s Hospital battling a brain tumor that left her vocal cords paralyzed.
Taylor Milton said her daughter is now transitioning off the ventilator and seems to be making some progress.
"We won’t know until August if she’s in remission," Milton said. "But we do have progress scans coming up on May 25."
Until then, Sissy will have a new space to strut.
"It’s truly remarkable how many volunteers showed up to give my daughter a place where she can be safe and have fun in her own backyard," Taylor Milton said.
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