PEORIA, Ill. – A rainy day in Peoria Wednesday didn’t stop a “celebration” from happening, when a patient got to leave OSF Children’s Hospital of Illinois after five years.
OSF Saint Francis employees gathered outside the main entrance — many holding signs — and cheering when 19-year-old Hakiem Jones finally got to make a break for it after five years of treatments for a form of cancer, b-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia.
“He is a very, very loved patient here,” said Cristol Klicker, a social worker with OSF’s “Almost Home Kids” program, which provides training to parents on how to properly take care of their kids following a hospital release. “So many of us at the Children’s Hospital have pulled together as a collaborative team to make this moment happen for him.”
And it was a collaborative team that took care of Hakiem for those five years.
“I was very excited to see everybody out. They have helped me, and they said I can call on them any time, so I will call on them any time,” said Princess Daniels, Hakiem’s mother, as his medical team laughed.
Hakiem’s five year stay wasn’t without its problems.
“His journey got a little bit more difficult as his stay continued on,” said Klicker. “He had a couple of rough patches, which then required him to become ventillator and tracheostomy-dependent, which also increased increased his risk of being medically-fragile and at high risk for other diseases and things like that.”
Klicker says no matter what obstacle Hakiem faced during his five year stay at OSF, he overcame it with a smile that could light up a room.
Daniels’ advice for any other parents who may have to deal with what she has over the last five years?
“Don’t give up. Keep on going. And, God will see them through,” said Daniels.
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