FRANKFORT, Ind — It was a day Cole and Leah Kercheval prayed for without ceasing, for the past two years.
The day they always hoped to see, when their little girl, 6-year-old Luisa, would be in remission from the leukemia doctors diagnosed her with two years ago.
That day came Friday at Riley Hospital for Children.
“It’s been an amazing thing to watch Luisa. She’s been so strong,” said Cole Kercheval of his daughter’s fight.
Luisa first touched the hearts of Channel 13 viewers last August when we did a story after the then-5-year-old lost her stuffed raccoon, "Baby," the special friend who had been at her side since Luisa was a baby and stayed there through all of her cancer treatments.
At the time, dozens of people offered replacements for Baby.
“We never found him, but he came back to us through Nashville, Tennessee from somebody else who had one identical,” explained Leah Kercheval.
Luisa’s treatments continued with two goals in mind, to become cancer-free and get the chance to ring the bell at the hospital to celebrate that moment.
“It’s right there in the hall. There’s the plaque and we’ve seen the kids do it,” Leah explained of the bell.
“She asked several times, ‘Do I get to ring the bell yet?’” Leah recalled Luisa asking.
The answer turned out to be "no," because of COVID-19 restrictions.
That’s when Leah wrote a Facebook post about the situation, asking others, wherever they were on Friday, to make some kind of noise to help Luisa celebrate.
People didn’t disappoint. Luisa got a little help from her friends, people she didn’t even know.
“Luisa, from the law enforcement in Clinton County and Frankfort city, we’d like to wish you congratulations for getting your port out today and doing your last chemo treatment,” Clinton County Sheriff Rich Kelly said in a video sent to Luisa and posted on the department's Facebook page. “We know you can’t ring the bell at Riley, so we’re going to ring it for you."
Kelly rang the bell three times, then each officer at the ceremony offered words of congratulations and encouragement.
Officers from Bloomington made a similar video, turning on their sirens and lights, staging a small parade in the department’s parking lot.
For the Kerchevals, seeing all the support was overwhelming in all the best ways.
“To me it was kind of, like, we did it. We did it. She did it,” said Leah, tearing up.
“It’s encouraging when you see the kindness of people’s hearts,” said Cole.