Arizona woman brightens the holidays for pediatric cancer patients with WWE-themed Christmas tree
One member of the WWE Universe is brightening the holidays of pediatric cancer patients with a WWE-themed Christmas tree.
Heidi Smith Blair of Phoenix shared on Facebook her story of visiting a clinic with her daughter, Elizabeth, eight years ago for chemotherapy. She noticed a lack of holiday flair — most notably, a Christmas tree, and decided to put one up, adorned with her own handmade decorations.
“My heart was heavy,” she wrote. “It was a sad place already but it made me sadder knowing that these kids didn’t get a pretty tree to enjoy.”
Heidi has continued the tradition each year of setting up a tree in the clinic with the help of Elizabeth, who is now cancer-free.
This year, they chose WWE as their decorating theme — one with a very personal meaning for them.
Elizabeth attended the Sept. 24, 2018 edition of Raw and was honored in the ring with a custom WWE Title while Hyundai Hope on Wheels presented Connor's Cure with a $200,000 donation. Elizabeth even wowed the crowd with a fun dance.
WWE Chief Brand Officer Stephanie McMahon spoke at WWE's 2019 Business Partner Summit this past April about Elizabeth's experience and the note she received from Heidi the next day, calling it "the best night of all-time."
"Elizabeth often talks about her journey and losing her voice as well as the use of the right side of her body due to chemotherapy treatments," the note read. "To see her dance on that stage and sing to you last night, those were full-circle moments for me personally as her mom.
"I often look back to when Elizabeth was going through the toughest times in treatment and I would pray every day for tomorrow with her. I never could have imagined that our tomorrow could have looked like last night."
Elizabeth is a youth ambassador for the Hyundai Hope on Wheels program, a WWE partner committed to helping kids fight cancer through research funding and awareness. Connor's Cure is a fund dedicated to pediatric cancer research established by McMahon and WWE Executive Vice President Talent, Live Events & Creative Paul "Triple H" Levesque at the Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh.
