Daily Herald opinion: A defining experience: In response to family’s crisis, Mount Prospect shows what community is all about
In the face of an unimaginable challenge, Mount Prospect has shown the strength and compassion that define a true community.
Recently, Mount Prospect residents demonstrated this caring spirit as they rallied behind 13-year-old Presley Grimpe and her family who live in the community.
After a sudden and devastating battle with sepsis and septic cardiomyopathy left Presley without both of her legs, the neighborhood transformed itself into a sanctuary of hope as she returned from months of hospitalization and rehab.
The tribute greeting Presley on June 25 was a wonderful display of solidarity. Orange ribbons and pink “Presley's Posse” yard signs blossomed across the neighborhood, serving as symbols of Limb Loss and Limb Difference Awareness Month.
But the support in Mount Prospect went beyond decorations.
While Presley endured months of intensive medical treatments and rehabilitation, her community pitched in to help her family with the responsibilities of everyday life.
Frank Fiarito, family friend and Northwest Suburban High School District 214 school board president, offered Presley’s older sister, Kendall, a place to stay. The Fiaritos helped Kendall navigate finals, ACTs, AP tests and prom.
Neighbors kept up with chores, like weeding the Grimpe’s lawn. And now that Presley and her family are home, friends have organized an ongoing meal train, delivering comfort food like Greek chicken and pasta to help out.
This is what it means to be a neighbor. We love that these Mount Prospect families are showing all of us what can be accomplished when people look out for one another.
Presley faces a long road ahead as she adapts to prosthetics and works toward reclaiming her active lifestyle, but she is supported by her family and her community to help her through it all.
Mount Prospect has certainly proven that when one of its own faces adversity, the town’s people rise up.
Well done, Mount Prospect.