A Sparks High School student is making the holidays a little brighter for kids at the hospital this holiday season. Junior Jonah Howell was diagnosed with leukemia last year and knows what it's like to spend the holidays in a hospital bed.
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"Last year I spent a few weeks in the hospital," Howell said. "I was lucky enough to have family and friends come over and spend some time with me, but this year only family members are allowed."
He's now in remission, and this year, he has special gifts for the kids that have to spend Christmas at Renown Regional Medical Center.
"I was talking to my brother about how last year was not so fun," he said. "So we decided to make 50 packages with trees and decorations for the trees, including gingerbread houses."
He asked for the community's support, and donations came pouring in.
"At first we started out with 25 trees and delivered those to Renown," Howell said. "And then we asked for a little more, and Renown put up a post, and it blew up. Everything was bought and it just went from there."
Now, kids here will have Christmas trees and gingerbread houses to brighten their rooms.
"Our plan is to have every kid have one on Christmas Eve," said Brittany Best, a child life specialist that's worked with Jonah over the past year. "Then we'll gauge our patient census and give some to our kids in the children's infusion area where Jonah receives treatment currently."
A holiday message from someone who's future is bright
"It's amazing, with cancer I've been able to surprisingly keel all A's in high school and hopefully I can keep that going into college," Howell said. "Just keep happy, keep bright, hopefully this will end next year and the next holidays will be full of joy."
