Teen helps her own, selflessly sewing blankets for sick children

Teen helps her own, selflessly sewing blankets for sick children

(Dragon Images, Shutterstock)


Save Story
Leer en español

Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes

This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.

Phoenix, Arizona — It is something most parents pray they never have to go through, an illness that threatens to take their young child's life.

Just ask dad Kyle Goodman.

"That's the hardest thing as a parent is to watch your kid in pain and you can't do anything about it," he said sitting by his daughter at Phoenix Children's Hospital.

It has been a long road for the family after five heart surgeries. The latest one was in October.

"Since then I've been getting a really good night's rest with it," Jenna Goodman said, snuggling up with a custom-made blanket.

Jenna's not talking about her new heart, but, instead, the blanket she received while in the hospital.

The blanket was not from some big company looking for praise or a person who gets paid to work with kids but from a young girl just like Jenna.

For a little more than a year, McKenna Rodriguez, 15, has been making blankets for kids with life-threatening illnesses.

She taught herself to sew and has made more than 200 blankets for children around the world.

She posts may of the pictures of her blankets on her Instagram account.

Jenna's dad said drugs, words and hugs only go so far, but this blanket from McKenna has helped comfort his daughter in ways he never imagined.

For that reason, he wanted to Pay It Forward to her.

McKenna, surprised, after she received $500, said she does it because she too is chronically ill, and knows what it is like to be cooped up in a hospital.

As for her selfless heart at such a young age, that answer is easy and eye-opening.

"I think when you are sick, you grow up fast, faster than most teenagers," she said.

Jenna and her family are so grateful for McKenna and her blankets, adding it made scary days after a surgery that much easier.

"It is amazing. It makes you feel good and say, 'OK, I can move on to the next day'," Kyle said.

Copyright 2016 Cable News Network. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Most recent Uplifting stories

Related topics

Uplifting
Ian Schwartz

    STAY IN THE KNOW

    Get informative articles and interesting stories delivered to your inbox weekly. Subscribe to the KSL.com Trending 5.
    By subscribing, you acknowledge and agree to KSL.com's Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

    KSL Weather Forecast