Boy with Cancer Creates Post-It Note Art in Hospital Window — and Befriends Staff Across the Street
A young boy battling cancer is making it through his health journey with the help of some new friends and Post-it notes.
Meyer Mixdorf, a 5-year-old fighting a brain tumor at Children's Mercy Kansas City hospital, was struggling with his treatment when his mother, Liz Mixdorf, decided he needed something to brighten up his days, according to ABC affiliate KMBC.
After creating a Post-it note picture of a smiley face on her son's hospital window to entertain the young boy, the family was reportedly surprised to find a similar smiley face on a building across the street in the days that followed.
It turned out that the building was Truman Medical Center/University Health, where staff member Johnna Schindlbeck told KMBC that she and her team were "just doing something fun" for the child.
"I know there are children over there and I don't know what they're going through, and if I can make them smile a little bit, that's all that mattered," added fellow staffer Cheryl Grey.
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The Post-it art continued in the weeks to follow, as the designs by both the Mixdorf family and the staff at Truman Medical Center enhanced, Good Morning America reported.
The Post-it note creations then began to take on more intricate outlines, including Mario characters, Ninja Turtles and Minions, among others.
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Neither participating party was aware of who exactly was behind each art piece until Mixdorf put up a note that expressed her gratitude, and signed off as "Mom," GMA reported.
"If this little art makes him happy, gives him something to look forward to, and it makes his mother and his family know that other people care ... it was so rewarding for me to see," Schindlbeck told the outlet. "I was just at the right place at the right time to be part of something that was so simply beautiful."
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Mixdorf and her son eventually ventured over to the other building once the young boy's neutrophil counts were high enough, looking to meet — and thank — their mystery friends.
"I went to the security guard and she said, 'What are you here for?' and I said, 'I have a strange story,'" Mixdorf told GMA, adding that she showed the worker pictures of the window art and was immediately brought upstairs.
When they arrived on the eighth floor of the building, Mixdorf told KMBC that "everybody started crying" as staff realized who she and her son were.
"It was really neat meeting him and to hug [Liz] and just know what it meant," Schindlbeck told GMA of the special moment. "It's something I'll never forget for sure."
Looking ahead, Mixdorf told the outlet that Meyer's latest MRI is looking good and showing no sign of disease, so the family is planning on bringing him home soon.
