CLEVELAND — On Thursday at University Hospitals Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital, Christmas came five months early for caregivers there.
Santa, Mrs. Claus, and a festive dog were there with the whole gang, thanks to 18-year-old Meg Krafty, of Huron.
"I just love Christmas so much and I just love giving back to people," she said.
She even brings light to others, when in her own darkness.
"She was diagnosed with a very rare terminal pediatric brain tumor," Meg's mom, Jil Edwards, said. "It was a very grim outcome. She had a 1% chance of living."
Yet, that's exactly what Meg did: She kept on living.
"I've just always thought of it as just another thing ... that's literally like, when people tell me about it, I'm like, 'Oh, it's just another thing in my life,'" Meg said.
It's just another thing to her, but it's a miracle to those who love her.
After surgery and multiple rounds of treatment, Meg got good news.
"Her last MRI, which was two weeks ago, the cancer is dying and the blood supply to it is dying. The tumor is going to be there, but the cancer is dying," Jil said. "Her oncologist told us two months ago she's now one of the lucky ones."
If you ask Meg, she's the one who feels blessed.
"I'm very grateful. I've been given a second chance at life," Meg said. "And I love that. I pray for that every single day."
Back to that Christmas party. When Make-A-Wish asked Meg what she wanted, her heart chose for her.
"She said, 'I don't need anything.' And she was like, 'I want to give back,'" Jill said.
So she chose to throw a Christmas in July party for all the health care heroes who were there for her.
"I'll tell you that staff go through a lot of hard times and we are sad along with our patients. We feel when there are losses, we cry with them," Maureen Meade, nurse manager of UH Rainbow and Children's PICU, explained. "And the thing that keeps us going and motivates us are our wins, and so Meg doing something like this is such a huge win for us. Not only is she still here with us, but the fact that she could have done anything for her Make-A-Wish and she has chosen us and she wants to be grateful and thankful and do this for us, she has actually no idea how much impact she's had on us by doing this."
Not only did the PICU team receive gifts, Meg also thought of the other families dealing with cancer. At the party was a table stacked with toys and some care bags for the families here. That's because she partnered with the All for Evelyn Foundation, named after Evelyn Bauer, who sadly passed away from sepsis. Her parents know about long nights in the hospital, so in her honor, they gift families in the hospital care bags filled with personal hygiene items.
Then, the PICU team surprised Meg, gifting the outdoor-loving teen a fishing pole. All around, it was a joyful celebration of hope, comfort, and second chances, but no one is more proud than mom.
"She is the strongest person I've ever met," Jil said of her daughter. "She's never once said, 'Why me?' Never once. She's a very, very strong girl. She has a heart of gold, and she's a remarkable lady."
To learn more about the All for Evelyn Foundation, click HERE.