Kids across metro Atlanta returned to school this week.
And while many kids dread going back to school, kids with chronic illness—those undergoing chemotherapy, awaiting organ transplants, recovering from traumatic brain injuries —see the day as a return to “normal.”
Earlier this week, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta invited families to share photos of current and former patients going back to school. More than 100 families responded and their first-day-of-school photos are poignant — stories about an itty bitty preemie now entering kindergarten, a little girl celebrating a hospital-visit free summer and heading to preschool, a young cancer survivor starting 7th grade after missing more than a year of school for treatment.
“At Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, we often say that our job is to get kids back where they belong—that’s out of the hospital and back to classrooms, neighborhoods and ball fields where they can experience the joys of childhood,” said Dr. Jim Fortenberry, Pediatrician in Chief in a statement.. “When a child’s daily life has been interrupted by injury or illness, the first day of school is much more than a milestone. It’s a return to normalcy. It’s a milestone that’s been preceded by the achievement of other milestones, such as gaining enough strength to breathe without a ventilator or building back an immune system that’s been weakened by chemotherapy or anti-rejection medicines.”
The following photos look at some of these remarkable local children returning to school. They are being shared with permission from their parents. The AJC is using what was submitted for captions also.
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