Ally's Wings

Right now as I sit in my room on my laptop writing this and creating my website it dawns on me that when I first heard of Allison being diagnosed I never imagined I would be doing anything like this. After I heard about Ally(                      to read Ally's story) it did not register 100% with me. I knew people got cancer a lot but I did really understand how much a lot is. It didn't really feel like it could happen to anyone. Later in August of 2015 I got some news that would change my thoughts about cancer. My best friend was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma cancer.  This really changed my world. My first time visiting her in the hospital was hard very very hard, A friend and I went down to visit her and we saw the hard reality of childhood cancer. We saw little children going through treatments and tubes connected to our friend and it was scary. Little later in the year I went and stayed in the hospital with my friend for Halloween.  During that stay I saw even more that would change my views. One little girl I met was dressed up as a ladybug. As my friend and I got to talking to the parents we learned that they would be spending every holiday in the hospital from Halloween to Easter and that broke my heart. My friend today is now cancer free and healthy. Soon after there was a pageant in my hometown that was based on platforms.  I picked childhood cancer as my platform. I did not win that pageant but it showed me a new love for volunteering and being an advocate for childhood cancer. I then started raising money for cancer research and I loved it.  Some months after that Allison passed away. That is when I knew I wanted to do something more for my platform and that I need to do it for Allison. That is how Ally's Wings came to be. -Haley Helmin