Article published Dec 23, 2007
Gifts for Gracie
Marines honor child for courage, strength while fighting cancer
ALYSON VAN DEUSEN
alyson@thespectrum.com

Six-year-old Gracie Campbell did not expect to find two Marines and their families in her living room when she came home with her mother, Jennifer, on Saturday.

Dennis Cory, a retired Marine, and Marine Rick Massey waited with their arms filled with wrapped gifts and a giant stuffed bear for Gracie to come home.

The men were there to honor the girl for her courage and strength she exhibited while fighting cancer.

Cory had first met Gracie with her father, Chip, in the parking lot of Home Depot, he said.

The retired Marine said he felt a connection with the girl because they had both battled the disease, albeit different types.

"It's very moving to me to be here, to be able to come here and honor this little girl," he said. "Especially since we are both cancer survivors."

Massey and Cory also brought gifts for Gracie's 10-year-old brother, Corbie.

Massey is the organizer of the region's Toys for Tots charity program.

The charity had received more toy donations than recipients this year, Massey said.

The extra toys made it possible to also do something special for Gracie, whose family is financially capable of providing a Christmas for their children.

Massey was also able to donate toys to families in California from the surplus, he said.

The Campbells look forward to spending their first Christmas away from hospitals and doctor visits in years, Chip said.

It will also be the first year Gracie will spend Christmas cancer-free since she was a toddler.

Gracie was first diagnosed with neurofibrosarcoma, a cancer of the peripheral nerve, in 2003.

She was just 18 months old, Chip said.

"It was like someone kicking you in the gut," he said.

At the time, the Campbells were living in New Orleans, he said.

But after the diagnosis, the doctors referred Gracie to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tenn.

Gracie had a tumor by her lung, which rivaled the organ in size, Chip said.

The family literally dropped everything in New Orleans to find treatment for Gracie.

"We took an ambulance ride to St. Jude and spent the next year and a half there," Chip said.

Gracie underwent six rounds of chemotherapy, a bone marrow transplant, and then six more rounds of chemotherapy after the surgery, Jennifer said.

"It was like she was sunburned from the inside out," Jennifer said while holding Gracie in her pink princess room on Saturday.

Chip said he feared his daughter would die from the cancer every day from 2003 to last April, when staff at St. Jude declared her cancer-free, he said.

Jennifer said the family tried to stay positive during Gracie's treatment.

"The hardest thing we learned was not to worry about what's going to happen at the end," she said. "You learn to live one day at a time."

The St. Jude Children Research Hospital operates from donations, meaning treatments and living expenses are free, Chip said.

Even after leaving his home and friends behind, Corbie said he didn't mind staying in the family housing for the hospital.

"It was OK with me," he said. "I thought, I hope my sister would be OK, and I hope they made the cancer OK."

After spending 1.5 years at the hospital in Memphis, the family moved to Peoria, Ill., where Gracie continued her treatments at a St. Jude Children's Research Hospital clinic and underwent oral chemotherapy, Chip said.

After being released from St. Jude, the Campbells decided to start a new life in a new place.

"Once we were finished, Hurricane Katrina had come through New Orleans," he said.

The family decided to relocate to St. George, he said. Now, Gracie attends kindergarten at the same school as her brother and lives the life of a healthy little girl.

"She's all about telephones and makeup," Chip said. "She walks around singing to herself."

Chip said he and his wife now look forward to the future and to watching their daughter grow.

"I'm just thankful that one day, I'll get to walk her down the aisle. She's going to grow up and get to experience things," he said.

Ellie