- 13-year-old St. Jude patient and family donates blankets
- Grandmother launched www.nitaliasblankets.com
- Blankets and hats arriving from all over country
(Memphis 12/04/2009)
Nitalia Conti knows what its like to battle cancer.
The 13-year-old’s been a St. Jude patient for a year. It’s a place where her family says they’ve found comfort and love. Today, they came back to share some of that comfort with other patients.
Nitalia conti and her two sisters are getting ready to give back some of the kindness she received when she first arrived at St. Jude. They live in Arizona but every 10 weeks the family travels back for Nitalia’s treatments. This visit they brought with them bundles of blankets.
“When I was going through radiation. I used to get blankets that the community made and they used to keep me so warm and it warmed my heart and I used to take them home and I loved them,” said Nitalia.
Nitalia’s grandmother heard about the blankets and the word spread.
“My mother started knitting and crocheting and her friends got involved and some of the church groups got involved and they put together a little website. They’ve got hundreds of blankets now that they’ll be sending out to St. Jude,” said Anthony Conti, father.
Nitaliasblankets.com is bringing in blankets and hats for St. Jude patients from all over the country. This week the Contis delivered the first big batch. For some young patients, it seems the hats and blankets are just what the doctor ordered.
“I think its very nice that they donated them. They’re nice and soft and you can always think of them that they donated to St. Jude and that was very nice of them,” said 16 year old patient, Carissa Barrett.
The Contis say the blankets don’t cure cancer but they do offer comfort at a time when some children need it most. It’s a way for the family to give back what Memphis and St. Jude has given to them.
“God is good and he works through his love for people and that’s the whole Memphis community. And, truly there’s no place like Memphis,” said Suzann Conti, mother.
The Contis say the moment their plane landed in Memphis last year, they felt the love. St. Jude provides housing but the family as a whole wanted to stay together so a Memphis business man let them stay rent free in his condo. That’s just one of the many kind gestures that inspired them to give back a little of that kindness today.
Copyright © 2009, WREG-TV