Friday, May 26, 2000
Visit helps cheer ailing classmate
By Kristina Goetz
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Allison Bruener is hospitalized and couldn't go on a sixth-grade field trip, so her Campbell County Middle School classmates made her the field trip.
More than 30 students lined up single file Thursday morning outside Children's Hospital with a giant get-well card and a king-sized quilt they made, which highlights 85 of the students' fondest memories of the school year on its 85 panels. They also wrote stories to go along with each of the panels.
Allison has muscular dystrophy and had to leave school in December to prepare for life-saving surgery to install a steel rod near her spine. It has been two weeks since the surgery and her family said she's doing well.
Even some of her classmates could tell.
“I always used to help her get her lunch and stuff,” said Cyrena Enoch, who has been a classmate of Allison's since preschool. “She's been eating and she's gained weight.”
Doug Wash added: “She looks a lot happier than she did.”
Other students filled Allison in on how one kid got stuck in his locker and of the 1960s day the sixth-graders had. The quilt will help Allison be a part of the awards day, dances and other activities she missed.
Judy Lowery, a sixth-grade teacher, said students make a quilt each year and usually draw a name out of a hat to choose a recipient. This year, they decided to take their field trip — which was earned through having no lunch detentions or not missing homework for the entire year — to visit Allison.
“It made me see they are such a caring group,” she said. “This really proved it.”
Allison said she felt great about the visit and that she hopes to be well enough by July to go to muscular dystrophy camp, where she'll ride a horse and ride in a canoe.
“Nobody can keep me away from that,” she said. “No way, no how.”
Allison's dad, Ron, said he's glad his daughter's classmates are thinking of her.
“I heard they had done a quilt, but I never thought they'd give it to her,” he said. “It's a great thing they are all thinking of her, even though she hasn't been in school since Christmas.”
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Visit helps cheer ailing classmate
