The adorable Addie was born seven years ago in Dallas but doctors soon discovered that she had a severe medical condition. The little girl was forced to spend a lengthy period of her childhood at the Texas Scottish Rite Hospital after doctors diagnosed her with Larsen syndrome.
It’s also known as the ‘backward knees’ syndrome and is a condition which causes an abnormal development of the bones.
Addie was forced to use a cast since she was just 5 days old because her legs were growing backward. Her mom Julia estimates that her little girl has received around 70 casts over the past few years. It took a considerable amount of time and four complicated surgeries, but the girl who was deemed to never be able to walk could finally move freely.
The little girl’s condition was very severe at the time of her birth and medical treatments were quite expensive, to say the least.
Addie’s family was unable to afford those treatments, but the Texas Scottish Rite Hospital gave the family free care.
“When she was born, her knees were backward, her legs were all the way up to her head, she had hip dysplasia and a club foot. We didn’t know if she would ever walk if she would ever run,” Addie’s mom said to WFAA.
Nobody expected it when Addie was born, but she can finally walk, run and jump around now just like her classmates. Addie’s eighth birthday was coming up, and she decided that she wanted to do something special for the all the doctors and staff members of the children’s hospital that became her second home.
Addie decided to raise money for her birthday. Instead of keeping the money herself, she wanted to donate all of it to the children’s hospital. She spent hours on the streets holding a homemade cardboard that read:
“My birthday wish is to raise $8,000 for my hospital Texas Scottish Rite for Children.”
Many people were more than willing to help Addie with her noble and admirable goal, but she didn’t expect that her story would be picked up by the media – domestic and international alike. In total, Addie managed to gather a whopping $19,500, much more than her target goal of $8,000.
However, the generosity most certainly did not stop there. Addie’s story inspired a good Samaritan to donate to the children’s hospital as well.
This unknown philanthropist added no less than $50,000 on Addie’s behalf accompanied with a touching letter praising the little girl for her generous actions.
With a total of $69,500, the staff of the children’s hospital was astonished when they were presented with the check. Addie hopes that the money will help other children in the hospital.
“I think all the kids are going to be happy, and they can get out of the hospital faster,” the seven-year-old said to USA Today.
What an incredible and inspiring little girl!
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