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| "Girl never let illness get her down
" Paige Rutter, 3 THE FLINT JOURNAL FIRST EDITION Friday, July 02, 2004 By Chelsea Samuel csamuel@flintjournal.com FLUSHING - When Paige Rutter wasn't feeling well, there always was one thing that made her feel better. "Sing 'Sunshine,' Mommy," she'd say to her mother, and the two of them would sing "You are my sunshine." Paige, 3, died Wednesday at home after a year-long battle with neuroblastoma, a type of childhood cancer. Paige's mother, Sandi Rutter, said Paige didn't ever realize she was different from other kids. She would lift up her shirt to show off her broviac catheter, used to administer medication, and was confused when other kids didn't have one. "She didn't know anything different," Rutter said. Rutter said Paige always was a normal 2-year old, despite the cancer and treatments she endured. She loved playing with her yellow lab, Levi, and watching Disney movies. The family even went to Walt Disney World in January, courtesy of Grant-A-Wish of Genesee County. "It was a trip of a lifetime," said Rutter. "It gave us a chance to be a family: no chemo, no hospital, no owies." When Paige had to stay at the hospital, her mother said she lived in the playroom in Hurley Medical Center's pediatric ward. She even knew where the key was at the nurse's station. "(Treatments) really didn't knock her down," Rutter said. The nurses at Hurley nicknamed her "Princess Paige" because of her spunky determination. Paige was diagnosed with neuroblastoma on July 12, 2003, after her parents grew concerned about a bump on her forehead. She went through chemotherapy and radiation treatments at Hurley Medical Center, where her parents worked. "We were put in different shoes that we weren't used to," said Rutter, who works as a nurse in the trauma intensive care unit. Andy Rutter, Paige's father, works as a physician assistant for trauma services. Since Paige loved the playroom so much, her parents set up the Paige Rutter Memorial Pediatric Playroom Renovation Project to help raise money for the playroom, which Rutter hopes will be known as "Paige's Playroom" some day in the future. "The playroom is in real need," Rutter said. Contributions can be made online at www.paigerutter.com through Children's Miracle Network. Paige's parents created the Web site to communicate with Paige's family and act as a resource for parents of other children with neuroblastoma. Services will be 1 p.m. Saturday at Swartz Funeral Home, 1225 West Hill Road in Grand Blanc Township. Visitation will be today from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the funeral home. Paige leaves father and mother Andy and Sandi Rutter of Flushing; grandparents Geneva Swink of Linden and Jack and Mina Rutter of Greensburg, Penn. |