Heartbreaking photo of urn in a car seat helps mom honor her 'baby girl'
"I love to hear about her and I love to talk about her," the mom told ABC News.
— -- When Sarah Walton needed to transport her deceased 4-year-old daughter's ashes from the funeral home, she put them in the only logical place she could think of: the little girl's car seat.
Ellie Walton died in January from a rare brain tumor. She endured 17 surgeries, 14 of them brain surgeries, in her short life.
Sarah Walton "wasn't sure" why she photographed the temporary urn in the car seat, but she's received such an outpouring of support since she posted it on the Facebook page Prayers for Ellie Walton that she hopes it's raising awareness about pediatric cancer.
Currently, 4 percent of cancer research funding goes to pediatric cancer.
"It's been two months of pure torture, agony, and despair," Walton wrote. "All I want back is our daily life, whatever they entailed, I want it back. I want hospital visits back, and chemo back, I want your laughter, and your joyous heart back. The things that brought my heart so much pain, only a few months ago, I so desperately want back today."
Walton told ABC News that she never wants another mother to go through this.
But posting about Ellie, Walton told ABC News, also helps her cope with her daughter's loss. "I love to talk about her and have people remember her. I love to hear about her and I love to talk about her."
Ellie wore sunglasses everywhere she went, her mother said. "But she always wore them upside down. Even when I put them on her the right way she turned them around." She also loved animals, especially dinosaurs, and pickles.
"She was the kind of kid who would have brain surgery on a Monday and by Tuesday she wanted to leave the hospital so she could get a Slurpee," her mother told ABC News. "She lit up a room. She was very outgoing and spoke to every person."
The outpouring of love on the family's Facebook page has been tremendous. "Awareness is about funding, of course," Walton said. "But for families going through this, just having people support them is important, too."
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