SELINSGROVE, Pa. — Whether it’s adapting to a new way of learning during the pandemic or fighting off a disease, so many youngsters can simply amaze us.
That includes one 9-year-old from Selinsgrove, who’s the focus of today’s Reasons to Smile segment.
If you’ve ever known someone who had to undergo multiple surgeries or fight off a life-threatening disease, you know their determination and perseverance can really inspire all of us.
That includes kids like little Emma from Snyder County.
It’s not only the countless surgeries she survived that might move you; it’s really how she turned her road to recovery into something that has brought so many smiles to so many other sick kids.
Since the day Emma Straub from Selinsgrove came into this world nine years ago, she was a fighter, weighing in at only 3 pounds, 13 ounces.
"She was born at Geisinger in Danville. And after she was born, they discovered that she had some medical issues. She had to have some surgeries. And so her first surgery— heart surgery— was done when she was three days old," Jennifer Straub, Emma's mom, said.
But Emma’s heart surgery was just the beginning of her time in and out of Geisinger’s Janet Weis Children’s Hospital near Danville.
"We used to call it the Hotel Geisinger because we felt like we were there a lot," Jennifer said.
Shortly after Emma’s first surgery on her heart at just three days old came another operation: doctors discovered the little girl’s esophagus was attached to her windpipe instead of her stomach. She wasn’t even a month old and had already gone through more than most of us will in a lifetime. Then came countless trips to the hospital for continuing check-ups—a little girl who handled unthinkable obstacles like a grown-up.
"I know that it's like a scary time in the hospital," Emma said.
It’s why this now 9-year-old from Selinsgrove recently did something about it.
"There's like this nice little nice feeling inside you when you get given a toy, when you're like, sick like it's so sweet that they do that. And I thought, well, since I always received amazing toys. I thought I should give back to other kids," Emma said.
Newswatch 16's Ryan Leckey asked Emma how much money she spent on toys for other kids.
Emma said maybe more than $200.
"Our whole backyard was filled with toys, so hundreds and hundreds of dollars," Jennifer said.
Emma told Newswatch 16's Ryan Leckey that a lot of people donated money to make this happen.
"Put it out on Facebook—it was amazing, the outpouring that we received," Joe Straub, Emma's dad, said.
Jennifer added the family got donations from the local community.
"I'm a teacher. So teachers where I work donated. We had it in our local newspaper, and we just received so much. It was unbelievable," Jennifer said.
And while Emma’s Spring toy donation will make quite an impact at Janet Weis, there’s one thing the sick kids at this hospital in Central PA could still really use.
"So one thing, which is actually a very common thing, it's extremely popular in our children's hospital are the wedding bubbles. Every kid loves to see bubbles when they're out in the summer, and nothing changes within the hospital walls either," Kristen Kowaleski from the Children's Miracle Network at Geisinger said.
Although Emma is no longer spending her nights inside these walls, she does return often for those routine checkups.
She’s also now sort of the face of Janet Weis in our area. Emma was nominated by her caregivers to be the official 2021 representative of the Children’s Miracle Network. Geisinger is one of more than 170 hospitals in the national nonprofit that helps create miracles for kids by funding medical care, research, and more! Emma proudly wears her honor around her neck.
"It’s like a champion medal," Emma said. "For being a champion for children’s miracle network."
And a champion for smiles, who’s gone through so much, and whose toy drive gives back SO much to other children like her, facing healthcare hurdles. A selfless gesture from a 9-year-old girl that shows those young patients that things can always get better. And that someone like Emma is thinking of them.
How To Help
You can learn more about how to donate supplies and other things to Geisinger’s Janet Weis Children’s Hospital at this link.
As for what Emma wants to do when she grows up, she says she wants to be a veterinarian and take care of animals.