Nicole Northorp knows first-hand how difficult it can be for a parent to spend the Christmas season in the hospital, fretting over a sick child. The worry, stress and desire to just get home again can be overwhelming.
So a year after going through an anxious period as her daughter, Harper Serres, underwent surgery at B.C. Children’s to install a feeding tube, she’s headed back to the hospital’s halls and waiting lounges to bring other parents some comfort — and a surprise.
Last week, Northorp handed out cards stuffed with a hundred dollar bill, or gift cards for gas, groceries or a meal out. On Monday she returned with more such presents, as well as home-baked cookies and chocolate treats.
“The mental well-being for parents is so hard,” Northorp, who lives in Port Coquitlam, said. “We thought if we could surprise parents, it would give them some hope.”
The first year-and-a-half of Harper’s life hasn’t been easy.
Doctors knew immediately when she was born six weeks early that something wasn’t quite right with Northorp’s third daughter. They rushed her up to the neonatal intensive care unit for blood tests and determined she had a rare chromasonal defect that inhibits her physical and mental development.
In fact the condition is so unique it doesn’t even have a name and Harper may be the only case in North America.
The condition can also cause Harper to choke, sometimes up to 10 times a day. That’s resulted in several frantic rushes to the hospital and a strain on the whole family.
Northorp said coping with the upset and uncertainty has been eased by an extended network of family, friends and acquaintances who banded together to create Harper’s Angels to pitch in when she needed an extra hand, emotional support, a way to get to a doctor’s appointment or care for Harper’s older sisters, two-and-a half-year-old Hope and 13-year-old Olivia Verna.
With Harper stabilized and home this Christmas, Northorp decided the time was right to pay their kindness and dedication forward.
She said with so much focus on the care and medical challenges of the child, the emotional health of the parents is often overlooked.
Northorp said during one of her recent visits back to B.C. Children’s, she saw a man sleeping awkwardly in a chair outside the hospital’s intensive care unit where his three-year-old daughter was not doing well.
“I had been there,” Northorp said. “I knew exactly what he was feeling.”
She struck up a conversation and when she presented the father with one of her cards, his eyes filled with tears.
“The parents have to hold it together,” Northorp said. “All of us parents should be standing together.”
The money for the kindnesses — more than $1,900 so far — has been raised by Harper’s Angels, soliciting friends and co-workers to chip in.
Northorp said the effort has been therapeutic, a joyful interlude despite Harper’s uncertain future.
“It feels good, and it’s so easy to do.”
• If you want to help, you can email Northorp at nicole.northorp@gmail.com, or go to the Harper’s Angels page on Facebook.
