ELYRIA, Ohio — After multiple hospital visits and surgeries, a northeast Ohio girl is doing her part to help others who are going through similar situations.
What You Need To Know
- Mercy Ships currently operates the largest non-governmental hospitals in the world
- Mercy Ships has operated in more than 57 developing nations and 18 developed nations
- Fiona Duncan wants to be a nurse one day working on a Mercy Ship
- She sells lemonade to raise money for the organization
For three years, Fiona Duncan, 12, has been selling lemonade in front of her home.
She came up with a cause that is close to hear heart: helping those who need medical attention.
“Lemonade! By buying a cup, you can save lives,” said Duncan, a seventh-grade student.
She and her younger sister, McKenna, have gotten pretty good at flagging down customers to help fund medical attention for those who need it but can’t afford it.
“I wanted to make a difference — at least in my city — trying to tell people that they can make a difference just by doing something small thing like selling lemonade,” said Fiona Duncan.
Fiona Duncan was born with Craniosynostosis, a congenital disability in which the bones of her skull fused too quickly. Throughout her young life, Fiona has spent a lot of time in hospitals.
“I have gone through some surgeries, and I want to make sure, like, kids that might be younger or older to know that it’s going to be okay because the doctors work hard to do their best,” Duncan said. “And I want them to know that I support them, and there’s going to be an end where they are healthy.”
Duncan’s stepfather, Brandon Valley, said her compassion comes from a place of extensive first-hand experience.
“She’s already gone through 2 reconstructive surgeries, two plastic surgeries where they had to pull back the head and fix out the sutures, they raised her eyebrow and created a new one, and she’s done about eight eye surgeries at this point,” Valley said. “So she wants to be able to help people going through the same thing.”
Duncan wants to help others suffering from illnesses like hers by raising money for Mercy Ships this year.
Mercy Ships is an international charity providing free health care around the world.
“I got inspired because of my dad,” Duncan said. “He worked on Mercy Ships a little bit because he was a corpsman, and I researched it, and it was talking about how it helped kids that didn’t have the surgical supplies that we have to get them healthy. So I wanted to try and raise money so they can buy things that they need to help the kids.”
Duncan plans to become a nurse when she grows up and even work on a Mercy Ship.
