6-year-old girl from Moody gets special snow day before January transplant

MOODY, Ala. (WBRC) - While many of us saw rain all day, a little girl in Moody got snow! The surprise experience was complete with a visit from the Grinch and Cindy Lou Who.

The big surprise was all to uplift 6-year-old Sophie Cromer. Her home looked like a winter wonderland on Sunday.

“She said this was the second best Christmas because, you know, you can’t top Disney but this is definitely the second best Christmas gift,” said her mom Candace Cromer.

Just a few months ago, in September, she was diagnosed with aplastic anemia. It’s a rare condition where the body stops producing enough new blood cells. Candace describes it as similar to cancer, but not quite cancer.

Every week, Sophie gets a platelet transfusion and every other week, a red blood cell transfusion.

“Without the help and support, we could go to dark places but with all the support and love form everybody, it gives us a good outlook and optimism and hope for the best outcome,” said her dad Adam Cromer.

By a miracle and Be The Match, Sophie was matched with several a bone marrow donors. Her transplant is set for January 20th.

“There’s a few families in our community that have had children that have had aplastic anemia so they’re kind of walking with us through it,” said Adam.

The big surprise was held by Heidi’s Kids with help from Southeast Construction Partners and Line of Fire in Moody. Michael Mangina with nonprofit Heidi’s Kids says they were grateful to see such a big smile on Sophie’s face.

“We’re just so happy that everybody was able to come together and make this day so bright for this great little 6-year-old,” he said. “She’s got a big year ahead.”

Adam says Sophie will remain in the hospital for a couple months following her transplant.

The family is asking for those who can, to donate blood or platelets for all the other kids and people who might need them because those donations really can help save lives. You can also sign up to be a bone marrow donor on BeTheMatch.com.

You can follow along with Sophie’s journey on the Facebook page SophLove.

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