Girl with rare condition gets heartwarming surprise
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DURHAM (WTVD) -- A 1-year-old girl with a rare liver condition always has her toy lion from Food Lion with her. She's had multiple surgeries and her mom said her stuffed toy is what gets her daughter through it all.
Click here for Sadie's Facebook page, Team Sadie.
Sadie Grey loves her lion and had it with her while recovering from surgery at Duke Hospital.
On Tuesday, she got a special surprise. Food Lion found out about her condition and decided to surprise her and other kids at Duke Hospital with new stuffed lions to help brighten their day.
"We certainly jumped at the opportunity to be able to just give a smile today to such a precious child," said Delany Spraggins, a Food Lion regional manager.
WATCH: Delany Spraggins of Food Lion discusses the supermarket's involvement.
Sadie's rare condition is called biliary atresia. Last week she got a pacemaker, but through every step and every surgery she's had the lion by her side.
WATCH: Sadie's mom, Abby Hulsizer, discusses her daughter's condition
Her father donated part of his liver to her last year and Sadie's mom said she had the lion by her side then as well.
"She took it back into her transplant with her. She took it back with her when she got her pacemaker when she had her bone marrow aspiration, all of that, she had this lion with her," Abby Hulsizer, her mother, said.
Sadie's friends, family, and the community are all rallying around her on her Facebook page. Thousands have extended their love and support.
"She has almost 50,000 people that are following her, just on a day-to-day basis and that completely blows my mind," said Hulsizer. "And for somebody who's a big corporation like Food Lion to pay attention to my little girl is absolutely amazing."
