Pearl Monroe, or Roe Roe, had quite a birthday celebration — dropping the puck at a hockey game AND marking the end of chemotherapy. | Chad Tucker/Facebook
Pearl Monroe, or Roe Roe, had quite a birthday celebration — dropping the puck at a hockey game AND marking the end of chemotherapy. | Chad Tucker/Facebook
Pearl Monroe’s sixth birthday will long be one to remember. Besides having a chance to blow out six candles on a birthday cake, Roe Roe — as she is affectionately called — got to celebrate the end of chemotherapy.
“From the beginning, I never doubted that she would be OK,” her father Chad Tucker told Fox 8, where he works. “The moment after they told us that she had cancer, I just had this peace about it. She was going to be just fine.”
The Winston-Salem child was diagnosed with acute lymphocytic leukemia when she was about 3 years old. Leading up to the diagnosis, Roe Roe would complain about pain in her hands and other body aches when she woke up. That progressed to the point where her pre-school teachers noticed she rarely wanted to play at recess, Fox reported.
Completing her chemo course was marked by the ringing of a bell as she finished up at Brenner Children’s Hospital in Winston-Salem.
“It’s her last night as our 5-year-old hero,” Tucker posted on Facebook. “Tomorrow we’ll celebrate her strength.”
The child has gained notice during her struggle, and as part of her birthday celebration, Roe Roe was invited to drop the puck at a Carolina Thunderbirds ice hockey game.
But nothing compares with the joy of ending chemo treatments.
"At the hospital, Roe Roe rang the bell, immediately sparking an eruption of cheers as silly string rained down on the Tucker family,” Fox 8 reported.
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