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GROVE, Okla. — A mom reached out to strangers to ask for pictures of horses to cheer her ailing daughter and was overwhelmed by the outpouring of gifts from all over the world, including her very own horse.
Alexus Lasiter, 7, was born with cerebral palsy. She also has a host of other health problems, including heart and kidney trouble and a seizure disorder. So when Alexus, who goes by Lex, was hospitalized three times in one month, her mom Wathena Sievert decided to get some friends to send Lex some pictures of horses through the mail. Horses have been Lex's favorite animal since she started attending horse therapy at age 3.
Sievert got in touch with Travis Barker, an artist that her husband knows through Facebook. She asked him to draw a picture of a horse, Lex's favorite animal, and send it in the mail.
Travis did her one better and started a Facebook page called Horses for Lex to invite artists from all over the world to send Lex pictures in the mail. The page garnered over 2,000 likes within a few weeks and Lex received over 200 horse drawings from all over the world.
"This has been a wild roller coaster ride. It's been enjoyable and unexpected,” Barker told the Grand Lake News. "It's been good to see other people take initiative and do something kind for someone else. It's been really rewarding to me."
I thought, you know, this is what I'm supposed to do. She will be able to love him and he deserves it, and he will love her.
–Becky Anne Ross
Horses for Lex caught the attention of a woman in Florida. As soon as Becky Anne Ross read about Lex's story, she knew she was the girl for Ross' horse named Snickerdoodle, a horse that was rescued from abusive owners and who now works with kids with cerebral palsy. She arranged for Lex and her family to travel to Florida so she could surprise Lex with her very own horse.
“I thought, you know, this is what I’m supposed to do,” Ross told Today.com. “She will be able to love him and he deserves it, and he will love her.”
Lex is overjoyed to have Snickerdoodle, Sievert says, and the two already have a special bond.
"Seeing the look on her face and knowing that she was going to be able to bring it home," Sievert told ABC Action News. "It's just unbelievable."
A GoFundMe page has been set up to help the family with expenses for the horse.
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