9-year-old with cancer gets unlimited toy shopping spree

A nine-year-old girl battling cancer in Regina had the chance to live out every kids’ fantasy on Thursday morning with a three-minute free shopping spree at Toys R Us.

“I’m SOO excited,” explained Amanda Powers, while she planned out the best route to pick up the Nintendo switch, Lego sets and craft supplies on her wish list.

She said she jumped up and down when she found out she was one of 10 sick kids chosen from across Canada for the 3-Minute Dash program through the Starlight Children’s Foundation.

“I was like ‘Oh My God I get to do this!’”

Amanda’s mom, Shari Powers, said her daughter was a healthy, active kid who swam and did competitive gymnastics before she was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia just after her seventh birthday.

“She presented with just flu-like symptoms, we thought it was nothing more. Ended up in the hospital and within two hours our life changed forever now,” Shari explained, as her daughter chimed in that they thought her bruises were from diving camp.

Since then Amanda has been in an out of the hospital, undergoing many chemotherapy treatments which sometimes left her immune system so compromised she had to stay in isolation.

“She has undergone so many treatments and had such a hard time that this is just a bright star in our days right now,” Shari said, noting how grateful their family is to have this chance to take a break.

Amanda sometimes still struggles with mobility issues and eating due to complications from her treatments. It was easy to see those troubles were far from her mind as she raced down the aisles with her own personal cheering squad.

Her mom, dad and big brother Will pushed carts behind her for three minutes of unlimited shopping to grab as many toys as she could, and Amanda smiled that she might pick up something special for her brother too.

With five months of chemotherapy treatments left, Shari said the family has something else to celebrate this month because Amanda is returning to school full time after missing almost two years. It’s a prospect Amanda is looking forward to.

Sitting on top of a pile of toys in carts her wide grin said everything about what the experience meant to her, as her grandmothers laughed in the background about bringing their trucks to haul it all home.

She had been battling cancer for 2 years but today Amanda Powers got to live out every kid’s fantasy of an unlimited shopping spree at Toys R Us. pic.twitter.com/pHET0pq1mQ

— Adriana Christianson (@AdrianaC_JME) September 6, 2018

Cancer treatment was the last thing on Amanda’s mind this morning as she got the chance to grab as many free toys as she could – a Nintendo switch and legos topped her wish list. pic.twitter.com/kIJgQPFbIa

— Adriana Christianson (@AdrianaC_JME) September 6, 2018