GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — As soon as Jennie Pam Penkala was wheeled into her hospital room at Mary Free Bed and saw the Toy Story blanket on her bed, her mouth dropped.
“What do you think?” said her mom Candy as she knelt beside her wheelchair.
They both looked at each other, smiled, and screamed “Toy Story.”
A few minutes before ten-year-old Jennie entered the room, the organization Once Upon a Room spent more than 30 minutes decorating it to look like her favorite movie. They put cloud stickers on the window, pictures of Woody’s friend Jessie on the wall and a slew of toys and pillows on the bed.
“This is the happiest day of my life,” Jennie said
Candy broke down in tears next to her.
She said she’s never seen anything like this.
“This is the happiest day of my life,” says 10yo Jennie Penkala.
— Lauren Edwards (@LaurenEdwardsTV) June 13, 2023
The young patient’s room was transformed to look like Toy Story, her fav movie, by the nonprofit Once Upon a Room at @MFBrehab
Her siblings JJ and Tiffany were at the surprise. // @FOX17
(@ChrisMillsPR ) pic.twitter.com/SFgeMryNnx
“This was pretty great. There’s a lot that she can’t do,” Candy said before taking a long pause. “So, when she gets excited about something you kind of run with it. For a long time Jennie didn’t talk. When she was 5, when she had a hemispherectomy, they took out the whole left side of her brain, which controls her language function.”
Candy said she and her husband didn’t think Jennie would ever talk due to the surgery and all of her seizures. However, she’s in the fourth grade and is doing well, Candy said.
For the FOX 17 interview she spelled her name and talked about her favorite parts of her new room: the Bo Peep lamp and the lights for her wheelchair.
“I felt special,” Jennie said, while wearing a Buzz Lightyear costume. “Because I’ve never seen my room decorated like.”
“You’ve never seen it decorated like that,” Candy interjected with a smile.
Josie and Jenny Hull said Jennie’s smile was worth traveling thousands of miles to see. They’re the mother-daughter team who co-founded Once Upon A Room years ago.
Josie was born a conjoined twin and was separated at one-year-old. She spent years receiving treatment at a few hospitals in California, and then at Mary Free Bed in Grand Rapids.
She remembered it being “boring” always being in a hospital room. So, a change of scenery can be impactful for a patient, she said.
“Josie’s been in the hospital for so many years, in and out of the hospital, and she at 12 years old she came to me and said ‘I’d really like to do something for someone else in the hospital,’” Jenny recalled. “I love when you decorate my room it makes me feel really good.”
Eight years ago the nonprofit was born. Today, in California, they can transform up to 16 rooms a day and 40 a week, and Mary Free Bed is the 32nd hospital they’re working with.
“I’ve done this so many times it keeps shocking me over and over and over again,” Josie said.
The Hulls said they were glad to help Jennie.
Candy was grateful too.
She said Jennie’s goal is to physically walk out of the hospital in a few weeks, and seeing Buzz Lightyear, her favorite character, everyday is the icing on the cake.
“It’s OK. We’ll make it through,” said Candy as Jennie grabbed her hand to lock fingers with her. “‘Cause, what does Buzz Lightyear say?”
“To infinity and beyond,” Jennie said.
“And beyond,” Candy replied with a smile.
