'Superman' visits tiny cancer patient at hospital window
Kendal and her twin sister, Kenedi, were diagnosed with leukemia in 2015.
— -- A toddler battling cancer confined to her hospital room received a special visit to her window on Thursday.
Kendal Breyfogle was greeted by a window washer dressed as Superman at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, as part of the hospital's "Superhero Day" that took place on April 27.
Kendal's mom, Abby Breyfogle, snapped a photo of the touching moment and shared it on her Facebook page.
"It was the first time she ever saw that so she was apprehensive at first, but started giving them high fives and was mad when they left," Breyfogle of Pierre, South Dakota. "Child life here is great. It's hard for us because a lot of [activities] are in the hallways and we can't go into the hallway, so this was cool that we can be a part of it."
Kendal and her twin sister, Kenedi, will turn 2 years old on May 1, 2015. Both girls were both diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia on Aug. 17, 2015.
"Having two, of course it's sad, but we just immediately went to the next step because we need to fight this," Breyfogle told ABC News that year. "The doctor said it's very rare."
Days later, Kendal and Kenedi were admitted into the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, and began receiving chemotherapy.
Today, Kenedi is 19 months in remission but in February, Kendal relapsed at her 17-month remission and was readmitted into the hospital.
On May 4, Kendal will receive a bone marrow transplant from an international donor. Because of her compromised immune system, the active toddler cannot leave her hospital room, Breyfogle said.
"She's just a typical 2-year-old -- she wants to be running and play not attached to tubes. ... We are trying to keep her entertained, but living in a 20-by-20 space is very difficult."
For years, a team of child life specialists at the Mayo Clinic Children’s Center have been surprising kids like Kendal with visits from superheroes, the hospital told ABC News. This year, Superman, the Hulk, Batman and Spider-Man rappelled down the side of the children’s hospital and played games outside the windows. Later, they arrived indoors to meet with the patients and their families.
“When the child life team plans events and offers activities, it is a way to normalize the hospital environment, making the hospital experience a bit more manageable,” said Kristi Rodgers, manager of the Child Life Program at the Mayo Clinic Children’s Center.
Kendal must recover from the bone marrow transplant for 30 to 45 days before rejoining her twin, big sister Teagan, 4, and mom and dad, Breyfogle said.