Girl, 5, In Cancer Fight Shares Sweets While Treated To Holiday Magic

NEW LENOX, IL — Five-year-old Kaylee Hedenschoug was so excited about what was coming Wednesday night, she spent all day baking cookies with her grandmother. The New Lenox girl knew there'd be a lot of people at her house that evening, and she wanted to be able to give each of them a cookie.

In the middle of a fight with cancer, the bubbly redhead still puts others first—to no one's surprise.

"She wanted to make cookies for everyone," said her aunt, Jodi Johnson. "She doesn't enjoy the attention, but she loves giving."

Kaylee's generous nature made Wednesday evening even more special—several dozen firefighters volunteering to decorate her family's home with Christmas lights and other festive features, including a giant inflatable Santa, all to make one little girl's day. Volunteers from dozens of departments across the suburbs came as the Lights and Ladders Brigade and Project Fire Buddies to decorate; the crew cranked Christmas music and set to work.

Kaylee has been embraced by nonprofit Project Fire Buddies, a volunteer-led effort by local fire departments to show support for children battling critical illness. Started in Oak Forest in 2016, the group's momentum continues to grow, expanding now to 30 different departments including south suburban Oak Lawn, Palos, Orland Park, Tinley Park, Midlothian, Homewood, Lockport, Lemont, New Lenox, Evergreen Park, Frankfort and Country Club Hills.

Project Fire Buddies this year fell in step with the Brigade, an effort under the umbrella of the Finley Forever Foundation. The Brigade works as a combined unit of several organizations—The Tom Hopkins Foundation, Christmas without Cancer and Finley Forever—which come together to raise money and bring cheer to families battling cancer during the holiday season by decorating the families' homes. The effort is entirely funded by donations collected throughout the year. In total, organizers purchased nearly $15,000 in decorations this year—all of which the recipient families will be able to keep.

Finley Forever Founder Dan Bracken started the foundation, and later the brigade, following the September 2020 death of his 2-year-old daughter Finley less than a year after she was diagnosed with neuroblastoma. Firefighters from across three states volunteer their time to decorate the homes of multiple recipients.

"When we were going through our battle with cancer, my dad and brother came over and forcefully made us decorate the house," Bracken previously told Patch. "It was in November, it's the last thing a family's worried about, is decorating the house, when you're dealing with this.
"... Money's great, emotional support's great, food trains are great—everything's great—but what can we do that takes a burden off the family? You never know when your last Christmas will be."

The holiday cheer is a welcome addition to Kaylee's days. It's been a long year-plus for her, following her October 2021 diagnosis with optic nerve glioma. A tumor is pressing on her optic nerve, causing her eye to bulge, and possibly threatening loss of vision. Doctors wasted no time after the finding; within 12 hours she was taken to Lurie Children's Hospital in Chicago, and within two weeks, began her first chemotherapy treatment. On Nov. 29, 2022, Kaylee rang the bell, marking the completion of one type of chemotherapy. She is now undergoing another.

Even the day she rang the bell, she didn't show up empty-handed, Johnson said.

"She handed out chocolate-covered pretzels to all the nurses and doctors, and that was the most exciting part for her, being able to give out treats to everyone," Johnson said.

The Hedenschoug home was the fourth of five stops for the Brigade on Wednesday. The group this year was able to decorate 13 homes, including six total in the suburbs. Fire departments represented included Oak Lawn, Chicago, Posen, Flossmor, Country Club Hills, Lockport, Orland Park, Bolingbrook, Romeoville, Tinley Park, Aurora, Chicago Heights, Cicero, Manhattan, New Lenox, Frankfort and McHenry Township.

Anne Hopkins, representing the Tom Hopkins Foundation, told Patch earlier in the evening that they've been thrilled to see the support shown to the Brigade, and were ecstatic to expand beyond its original premise of homes on the South Side of Chicago.

"We realized it was a great turnout, a lot of support from the community, and we heard a lot of great feedback," Hopkins said. "We said, 'let's make it bigger, let's expand.' All these firemen, everyone wants to come and volunteer and do this. It kind of grew overnight, and we're so happy to be a part of it.

"It's something so simple, seeing all these lights and all these people decorating ... so awesome."

The mood and house were both bright Wednesday, as Kaylee handed out cookies, giggled, and played with her friends.

"Just spunky as ever," Johnson said of her niece, that night and throughout her treatments thus far. "If you didn't see it, you wouldn't know. As much as she struggled with the chemotherapy, she has her bad days, and then she gets up, and says, 'Let's do it again."

Treatments ahead will hopefully shrink Kaylee's tumor, keeping her vision the way it is currently, Johnson said. Worst case scenario, she will face surgery to remove the tumor, which would render her blind in that eye. Specialists at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia would perform a globe-sparing surgery, which would allow Kaylee to keep her eyeball. It would move still, Johnson said, but she would not be able to see through it.

"In general, we're blessed that this is all that it is," Johnson said.

As an active 5-year-old, Kaylee loves gymnastics—she loves flipping around, and "she's been a monkey since she was 2," Johnson said. She has a stepsister Tyler, 24, and brother Parker, 8, who adores her, and never seems to get jealous of the attention paid her.

"He understands that a lot of this attention is for her, but he says, 'she deserves it,'" Johnson said.

Parents Jill and Mike were so thrilled that Kaylee was treated to such a special night. Johnson had wanted to make it a surprise, but she was having a hard time keeping Jill from decorating the home herself.

"We had to tell her before she decorated on her own," Johnson said, laughing. "She was getting a little antsy about it."

Johnson stood back and marveled at the night's events. Her husband is a firefighter and both have witnessed previous decorating events through Project Fire Buddies and Lights and Ladders, but this one hits closer to home, Johnson said.

"Literally, the sheer number... " she said, of the amount of people helping out. "Now that we need it ... I don't have words for how amazing this is, and the amount of people who have wrapped their arms around our family."

Kaylee's favorite decoration? A rainbow-lit Christmas tree. The giant inflatable Santa took second. Don't tell the Big Guy, though. She's hoping he'll bring her a Reborn baby doll this year.