Posted on 02/02/2017 2:57:00 PM PST by nickcarraway
Full interview with girl, before her death from cancer EMBED MORE NEWS VIDEOS
She was just 15 years old and faced with her own mortality. It would have been easy for her to be focused on herself. Instead, Alyssa Ferguson made a selfless decision that would change hundreds, if not thousands of lives, for people she would never even meet.
Two days after Alyssa turned 12 years old, she was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer.
Her mother Sandy Ferguson said, "She was good kid, a really good kid. And her heart was always for other people."
Alyssa was straight "A" student, and she was in the honor society. She played trombone and piano. She was known for her work ethic, her beaming smile and her seemingly unlimited capacity to show empathy for others.
Alyssa's father Scott Ferguson said, "Her heart was huge -- for people, for God, for those she knew and those she didn't."
Alyssa endured six brain surgeries and six different cutting edge treatments for the cancer. Although she fought bravely, that three-year battle ended earlier this month. Alyssa passed away at her Missouri City home.
But her legacy endures.
After she was approached by the Make-a-Wish Foundation, Alyssa asked her mother if it was OK to give her wish away.
She wanted to build a water well in Africa. She'd read a book when she was younger, "A long walk to water." It's a story about Sudanese children and what they had to endure just to get water to drink.
Sandy recalled Alyssa telling her, "They need water now. Go ahead and build it without me and we'll go visit it later."
Alyssa would get to see the pictures, the smiles and the difference her wish made. But she never got to go. That water well and four more around the world have now been built in her honor. Her parents say that's Alyssa's legacy. Her work and her words that live on despite her passing.
Scott said, "I think she'd want to say, do whatever you can in your corner of the world to make it better."
In an interview done by her youth pastor when she first got sick, Alyssa shared her innermost thoughts on life and making a difference.
"I guess you only have a certain about of time, so spend it wisely," she said.
The Alyssa Ferguson World Changers Fund was established to help Alyssa's legacy continue through construction of new water wells and repair or replacement of existing wells.
something wrongs with my eyes all of a sudden...
Brave kid.
This child was always an angel, just on temporary loan from God. Although the heartbreak must be beyond measure for her parents, so we’re the blessings her life must have brought to them
Great story to remember.
Thank you for sharing.
Impossible to read, for me, without tears. This is so beautiful.
What a beautiful lady.
Sandy recalled Alyssa telling her, "They need water now. Go ahead and build it without me and we'll go visit it later."
I worked for years in the ER of a major hospital and,while there,saw more death than I care to recall.However,given that our hospital was literally next door to one of the world's best known pediatric hospitals we,unlike many major hospitals,didn't have a pediatric service so the death I saw didn't involve kids.I thank God for that because as tough as it is to see an 85 year old...or a 25 year year old...die I would never have been able to handle a 5 year old or a 15 year old.
This kid showed far more courage and selflessness than I would have shown at the same age and in the same situation.
I'm in awe of that.
Good kid....damn shame.
Makes me question why a good kid has to go thru something like that and die...and then there’s trash like Odongo, Hairy Reed, Soros, McLame, Hildebeat, Pelousy and their ilk etc. that just seem to live forever.
Because we are ALL eternal, and five minutes, five or fifty or even a hundred years is not even a speck of eternity. I hope those you listed make a change and can live there too. But I admit they still piss me off .
“...I hope those you listed make a change and can live there too. But I admit they still piss me off ....”
You’re obviously a much way better and forgiving person than I am.
I’d just as well see the lot of em rotting forever in a hell they more than deserve....especially the muslim.
What a an Incredible and Wonderful Young Lady You have been here on earth...
...but for Now...
We will see You in HEAVEN there...hopefully mighty soon.
My wife followed the story of another little girl on FB. She wss 6 years old. Diagnosed with terminal brain cancer...
God didnt seem to help her very much...or her devastated parents...
What a selfless, brave child. Wisdom beyond her years.
Just kidding. I read your home page and think you are perfect. A shining light in an abyss of darkness. Good luck to you.
I thought your comments about ER was interesting. There's a few shows on tv about ER cases. Think you could write your own show?
Thanks for your kind words.I joined FR not long after the Massachusetts Supreme Court ruled,in '04,that homosexual "marriage" was guaranteed under our Constititution.It was a local Boston talk host (Howie Carr) who first coined the phrase "Gay State".
There's a few shows on tv about ER cases. Think you could write your own show?
If you spend enough time in a big city ER as I did (I was there for years) you'll eventually see every conceivable form of sadness and bravery as well as every conceivable form of cowardice and depravity.IOW you'll see the very best of *and* the very worst of humanity.
I could write a book....but,unfortunately,my most vivid memories are of the sadness so it wouldn't be a book that most people would want to read.
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