Emma Mertens is a 7-year-old girl living in Wisconsin who is currently fighting a very rare and inoperable brain tumor called Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma (DIPG). In January, her family set up a GoFundMe page to help cover the costs of her medical bills, and, as of Wednesday morning, it has exceeded its initial goal of $50,000 and raised over $81,000 to help Emma in her battle against DIPG—which is the most aggressive and deadliest of all childhood cancers.
But Emma also had another special request: she wants people all over the world to send photos and letters from their dogs, as the family said she finds comfort in them.
Soon, the letters of encouragement were pouring in, both online and into the family's P.O. Box.
"Hi Emma. My name is Dexter and I live in a little place called Glossop, England. I want to send you big sloppy kisses to make you feel better," Dexter wrote.
"Hi Emma! My name is Pickerel, but you can call me Pick! I'm a dog named after a fish and I love to go swimming and camping in the summer and roll around in the snow in the winter. I'm thinking of you and your family and sending you the biggest puppy kisses! Oh, and a high five too (I know how to do that!)," this very good boy wrote.
Team Emma - Fight against DIPG/GoFundMe
"Hi Emma! My name is Sherlock. And I just want to tell you that I love you," was this little corgi's message.
Team Emma – Fight against DIPG/GoFundMe
"Hey there Emma! We are Luna and Meeko! We live in Indiana but we visit Wisconsin a lot! We love the playing in the snow and swimming in the summer. Meeko (the golden retriever pictured below) has had surgery on his head twice and always recovers fully with the help of his big sister Luna. We all hope you feel better so you can play and wrestle with your brothers soon! We love you!" these two pups wrote.
Team Emma – Fight against DIPG/GoFundMe
"After our radiation appointment in the morning, we got a visit from a really cute puppy named Teddy," her father, Geoff Mertens, wrote on her CaringBridge.org page on Tuesday. "Teddy is miniature golden doodle and Emma was all smiles. Emma’s email inbox was completely full (2,500) and so was her P.O. Box. Many pictures of puppies really made her laugh or smile. Thank you to everyone who is trying to put a smile on her face, we appreciate the gesture. We are getting lots of requests for TV interviews and saw that one Facebook post had over 10,000 shares! In almost all of the notes or messages to Emma, prayer is mentioned. We are praying everyday for a miracle. This 7 year-old is so amazing, we must beat this. Please keep praying for Emma and all who have cancer. Finally, we attended big brothers tournament basketball game last night and since both teams were from the same school, they wore TeamEmma shirts in warm ups as did many in the crowd. Thank you all for the support. #TeamEmma"
If your pup would like to send this brave little girl a message, here's the address:
Emma Mertens
P.O. Box 230
Hartland, WI
53029
Email: emmalovesdogs7@gmail.com
And if you need a little pick-me-up yourself, check out these 30 Photos of Animals That Will Brighten Your Day.
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