Girl battling lifelong disease donates over 100 presents to Methodist Children’s Hospital

DEVINE, Texas – A Medina County miss donated implicit 100 presents to the Methodist Children’s Hospital arsenic a mode to springiness backmost to different kids, and to convey the infirmary for helping her conflict her lifelong disease.

Mackenzie Hennessey, 11, is simply a 6th grader astatine the Devine Middle School. She has bully grades, is progressive successful sports and is precise progressive with the pupil council.

Kathy Hennessey, her grandmother, said Mackenzie is adjacent much than that.

“She has a bosom of gold,” Kathy said. “She ever puts others first. It is never, ‘About me’ oregon ‘What tin I get.’ It is ever astir helping others and ‘What tin I bash to brighten their life’ with her.”

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Her grandparents are not the lone ones blessed to person Mackenzie around.

“She came to my schoolhouse arsenic a head-start 4-year-old,” said Stephanie Kohlleppel, her schoolhouse counselor. “She has an utmost level of caring. She is the oldest of 3 children and has had a pugnacious spell with respective bumps successful the road. She doesn’t fto that deter her from taking attraction of others similar her siblings and her friends. She is conscionable highly caring.”

Sadly, Mackenzie was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease erstwhile she was 6-years-old successful 2017. It is simply a chronic inflammatory bowel illness that tin origin life-threatening complications.

She said it has been a conflict but has been receiving attraction from the Methodist Children’s Hospital since the beginning.

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“It is up and down,” Mackenzie said. “Sometimes, I consciousness the symptom and I can’t halt it but I person to support going.”

“At that clip erstwhile she was diagnosed, she had terrible Crohn’s disease, which affected each of her esophagus each the mode down,” said Kathy. “She was enactment connected an big medicine and she inactive takes it today. Her symptom level tin beryllium wherever she is curled up each nighttime screaming, ‘It hurts,’ but radical don’t spot that. Because she doesn’t fto anyone spot that. You lone spot the giving broadside of her.”

During the commencement of the pandemic, Mackenzie had to enactment her plans to springiness backmost to the Methodist Children’s Hospital connected clasp due to the fact that infirmary officials were not letting thing successful oregon out.

This year, however, that changed.

“‘This has been weighing connected my heart,’ was her words,” said Kathy. “She asked maine to delight telephone the infirmary again and I called and near a message, but past I got a telephone backmost and they said that she could bash something.”

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“I practically astir broke the window,” Mackenzie interrupted happily.

“Yes, she was truthful excited,” laughed the grandmother.

Mackenzie past teamed up with Kohlleppel, who past took to Facebook and got the assemblage progressive with raising funds.

Together they were capable to rise astir $700 to acquisition 120 gifts for 120 pediatric beds astatine the Methodist Children’s Hospital.

“Seeing her get to bash the worldly that makes her bosom happy…makes my bosom happy,” Kohlleppel said done tears. “She proves that you person to person faith. There is simply a airy astatine the extremity of the passageway and that you can’t beryllium bogged down with the antithetic circumstances you are dealing with successful life.”

The presents dwell of gifts for babies, children, pre-teens and older teens.

“Whenever you person thing connected your bosom that you privation to fulfill that dream, bash it,” Kathy said. “There is simply a batch of radical that helping her that she didn’t adjacent know. The assemblage stepped in. She is adjacent talking astir doing this adjacent twelvemonth and for Easter.”

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Mackenzie, who says she wants to beryllium a cook 1 day, hopes her enactment of kindness inspires others.

“I conscionable consciousness similar we request to marque a difference,” Mackenzie said. “Those children request to cognize they are special. During this time, they request to consciousness joyful and happy. I americium conscionable truly gladsome I could bash this this year.”

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