Family will always treasure their 'miracle'
As Stephanie Carr entered the operating room for her first brain surgery, she offered some reassuring words to her worried parents.
"She said, 'I'll be right back, Mommy and Daddy,'Œ" Brian Carr recalls. "She was my hero, my little shadow."
Stephanie, a spunky 7-year-old who developed a benign brain tumor as an infant, died Monday at her Hanover Park home.
Sharon Hauer will remember walks around the block with her granddaughter.
"We'd make up our own special songs and talk about Casper (the family dog)," Hauer said. "She was so expressive and vivacious."
Denise Carr said she, Brian and their son, Kevin, 4, will always cherish this past Christmas with Stephanie.
"Her eyes were open and she was sucking down the Pepsi we gave her," Denise said. "She was grabbing the wrapping paper and pulling it down. It was awesome to see."
Stephanie was known to many as a "Christmas miracle."
Near death at Thanksgiving -- funeral arrangements had been made -- she inexplicably rallied and was admitted to Marianjoy Rehabilitation Hospital in Wheaton.
While there, Stephanie, who was blind, progressed to speaking numbers and days of the week. Her legs were fitted for braces. Though she had difficulty eating, Denise Carr said her daughter was making strides.
Her remarkable turnaround was chronicled in a Daily Herald story on Christmas Eve.
Nobody understands what happened next.
On Jan. 5, Stephanie came down with a 105-degree fever and had to be rushed via ambulance to Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago.
The tumor hadn't grown, an MRI showed, but Stephanie was never the same again.
"She wasn't getting things like she did before," Denise said.
Stephanie left Marianjoy to continue therapy at home, where she'd be sick one day and fine the next.
The Carrs returned to the hospital Feb 13. This time, an MRI showed the tumor had nearly grown into the brain stem, which controls heart rate, breathing and blood pressure.
She died five days later at home with her Mom and Dad by her side.
"I told her she did a good job," Denise said. "She fought to the end."
The Carrs feel fortunate to have a strong support system that includes not only friends and family, but the community as well.
Heritage Lakes Elementary School in Carol Stream last week put on a fun fair that raised $900 for Stephanie.
The production amazed the Carrs, considering their daughter attended the school for just a few weeks in September before she relapsed.
"She made a huge impression at that school," Denise said. "I've never seen that amount of support."
Visitation for Stephanie will be 2 to 8 p.m. Sunday at Countryside Funeral Home, 950 S. Bartlett Road, Bartlett. Funeral services take place at 10 a.m. Monday at St. Isidore Parish, 427 W. Army Trail Road, Bloomingdale. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to Children's Memorial Hospital.