Intelligencer Journal

Cards brighten girl's Christmas

Community gathers to support ill child

Most people don't think of the lights from EMS and fire trucks as beautiful, but that changed Thursday evening at Lititz Area Mennonite School.

A caravan of almost 50 emergency-response vehicles gathered in honor of Hannah Garman, a child diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor and given only weeks to live.

Asked what she wanted for her Christmas wish, Hannah, who lost her mother to cancer two years ago, said she wanted to see how many Christmas cards she could receive.

Then something incredible happened.

News of Hannah's wish circulated by word of mouth and through e-mails. People began to talk about Hannah's wish at their schools and local churches.

Before long, making sure Hannah got her wish became a countywide imperative.

Thursday evening, the EMS/fire caravan gathered at Heart of Lancaster Regional Medical Center, then headed to the Lititz Area Mennonite School as the vehicles' lights blazed through the winter dark.

"Now those are Christmas lights," one onlooker, who began to sob into a tissue, said. "That's just amazing."

People -- including many who did not know Hannah or her family personally -- began arriving at the school in the hopes of giving their cards and other gifts to the girl.

Others simply anticipated Hannah's arrival in one of the Warwick Township ambulances, accompanied by her father, Darin Garman.

And appear she did, bundled up on a stretcher to keep her from catching a chill, wearing a fuzzy leopard-print coat and a pink bow in her red hair.

The little girl was propped up so she could see the approaching EMS trucks.

Denyse Kling, Heart of Lancaster's director of marketing, said Hannah underwent surgery Tuesday.

"She could be sensitive to lights," Kling said before the event. "Her dad's going to wait and see, but we're hoping she can see the vehicles coming without trouble."

When the EMS caravan approached, Hannah's eyes were wide and watchful. EMS attendants asked onlookers to keep a modest distance so they wouldn't get in Hannah's line of sight.

The large turnout blew away Hannah's great-grandmother, Violetta Weaver.

"I never expected this," she said. "It's overwhelming."

Cora Reiff, Hannah's cousin and niece of her mother, said the little girl was fighting a good fight, but numerous surgeries have taken their toll.

"She has her mother in her," Reiff said. "She was my aunt's miracle baby. She's been through so much for someone her age and has had so many surgeries."

The young woman looked around at all those who had gathered to make Hannah's wish come true.

"Did you ever see that movie, 'Pay It Forward?' That's what this reminds me of," Reiff said to two women who said they were Hannah's great aunts.

"Everyone's just stretching their arms out to her," Reiff said. "A lot of these people are strangers, too, so this is just incredible to me."

One of the aunts, who asked not to be identified, said the diagnosis of a rare brain tumor (glioblastoma multiforme) came out of nowhere.

"When I saw Hannah at a family get-together in October, she was fine," she said. "So we were all shocked."

Hannah has undergone three surgeries and other treatments at Johns Hopkins Hospital and Hershey Medical center and will begin chemotherapy and radiation treatments later this month.

Although Hannah is confined to bed, her grandmother, Shirley Garman, said opening cards is one activity her granddaughter still can do.

Before Thursday, Hannah had already received about 700 cards. Her room is filled with them.

Hannah's family includes her siblings, Jordan, 9, and Brittany, 12.

Hannah lives close by with her grandparents, Shirley and Bob Garman, who provide care while Hannah's dad is working.

Many family members gathered near Hannah so they could watch her reaction to the caravan.

Some onlookers in the crowd began crying when the trucks approached.

Lititz resident Darryle Dezire smiled.

"This is what we do," he said, referring to the Lititz community. "This is what Christmas is all about."

E-mail: cdifonzo@lnpnews.com