Young Florida cancer survivors celebrate together every year

Three years ago, four little girls met under difficult circumstances, forged a friendship, and took some pictures in tutus.

Each year since, the quartet—Chloe Grimes, Lauren Glynn and McKinley Moore, now 6, and Avalynn Luciano, now 5—return to Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital to don their tutus, smile together and reconnect with the staff. It’s timed to Pediatric Cancer Awareness Month in September.

The four Florida girls met while being treated for cancer in 2016 at the St. Petersburg, Fla., hospital.

This year Lauren was back in the hospital to undergo CAR-T therapy, so her three friends had even more reason to return to Johns Hopkins and give her some love and support.

The annual event is a tradition the girls and their families embrace.

“This photo tradition has come to symbolize no matter what our girls are going through they are never going through it alone. I think it has helped all of them feel a little more ‘normal,’ ” said Shawna Glynn, Lauren’s mom.

Karen Moore, McKinley’s mom, agreed, writing in an email, “For me, these tutu photos & moments every year is a place of healing & hope. Celebrating how far they’ve come, how much they’ve grown and how HEALTHY they are. While Lauren had to take a different path to healing, she isn’t doing it alone and I’m so thankful for the life long friendships these girls have.”

Last week, the Tampa Bay Times reported Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital could face $804,000 in penalties from Florida’s Agency for Health Care Administration in the wake of revelations of an increase in deaths and complications linked to the hospital’s heart surgery department; heart surgeries there have been suspended. At deadline, the hospital had offered no comment on the impending fine.