Girl With Cancer Has 5-pound ‘Volleyball-Sized’ Tumor Removed, Heads Home Cancer Free

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A 5-year-old has beaten a rare form of cancer and has headed home to receive a hero’s welcome. Friends and family paraded outside the little girl’s family home in their cars to honk and cheer their support.

Little Rosie Schutter, from Grand Rapids, Michigan, endured her final round of chemotherapy at Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital on April 27, 2020. She went home, declared “cancer free,” the very next day, reports 9 News.

Rosie had been battling a 5-pound (approx. 2-kilogram) Wilms’ tumor, a rare kidney cancer that affects young children, since October 2019. According to the family’s GoFundMe page, a volleyball-sized tumor, a kidney itself, some affected lymph nodes, a small piece of lung, and a small piece of diaphragm were all successfully removed before the little girl began a course of chemotherapy.

Months later, on April 27, Rosie’s mother, Amanda, posted on Facebook to mark her daughter’s final overnight stay in hospital. Amanda wrote:

“It’s our last night here in the hospital for chemo! Going home tomorrow. Rosie has been doing great and feeling good! However the poor girl has been missing family and friends, so I appreciate everyone who has let their kiddos chat with her on Messenger Kids. That’s her favorite thing to do and it really cheers her up! ❤️ After this hospital stay we only have two outpatient treatments left! We’ve really come so far! ☺️”

The Schutter family’s loved ones and their local community showed up for Rosie on the evening of the little girl’s return by holding a drive-by parade outside her home. Dozens of cars passed outside the residence, honking and cheering Rosie’s victory; video footage shared by news media shows the Schutter family gathered on the front lawn, waving and smiling at the line of cars passing by.

Rosie’s father, Steve, said the parade helped his daughter to reclaim a lighter, brighter part of her personality that had been overshadowed by her cancer treatment. The presence of friends and family, he said, made his daughter “so excited.”

“She’s kind of become her old social self again,” Steve told WZZM 13. “So something like this is just right up her alley. Just being able to see everybody and say, ‘Hi,’ and so I just absolutely love to see how happy it made her.”

Steve explained that Rosie’s homecoming held extra meaning for both himself and Rosie’s older sister, Eleanor; owing to local lockdown protocol, Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital had visitation restrictions in place, and neither Steve nor Eleanor were able to visit with Rosie in hospital.

“It’s been four or five days here where we’ve only been able to video chat,” Steve explained. “So even just getting my wife and Rosie back home today was super emotional.”

To ease the financial burden on the Schutters during Rosie’s recovery, a GoFundMe page was set up for the family, and it continues to take donations. To date, the family has raised nearly $5,900 of a $15,000 goal.

As Rosie, her sister, and her parents leave hospital appointments behind and get back to normal family life, the little girl’s recovery story continues to provide hope to netizens everywhere.