LOS ANGELES (KTLA) — Two-year-old Hazel Hammersley, who made headlines when she put out a call from her hospital room for pizza, returned home and is doing better, her mother said.
“She’s feeling really good at the moment,” Lauren Hammersley told the KTLA5 Morning News in a telephone interview Sunday.
“We take those days when we can,” Lauren added. “She’s so happy to be around her brothers and sister.”
Hazel is battling neuroblastoma, a rare type of cancer that develops in infants and young children.
She was being treated at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, and went home on Monday.
Before Hazel left the hospital, the facility was overwhelmed with pizza deliveries from good Samaritans.
It all started after a Redditor snapped a photo of an amusing message posted on a patient’s window: SEND PIZZA RM 4112.
On the family’s blog, Hazel’s mother explained that she and the girl’s grandmother put up the message with hospital tape as something fun and silly.
“This sign was up for several days without even a single phone call asking to send up a pizza (which we completely expected!),” she wrote.
But then, everything changed last Saturday.
After the photo made its way onto Reddit, dozens of pizzas showed up at the hospital.
“Hazel woke up from her nap to the smell of pizza and was so excited to chow down!” her mother wrote.
”As of yesterday evening, there was more than 20 boxes delivered and more was coming! We had such a great time!”
The hospital eventually published a statement expressing gratitude, but saying that no more pizza was needed.
Hazel’s family said they hoped the outpouring of support would translate into increased awareness about childhood cancers.
They have set up a blog for those who wish to donate or follow Hazel’s story.