By Bailey Kreszswick, Co-Multimedia Editor
From posting photos on social media to celebrating a spirit day at T/E Middle School, #Jumping4Juliet is only one of the ways the community overwhelmed the Zangrilli family with love and support.
On March 12, Juliet Zangrilli, who is currently an eighth grader at T/E Middle School, was diagnosed with hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis. Following Juliet Zangrilli’s diagnosis, her mother Molly Zangrilli created an Instagram page and hashtag, #Jumping4Juliet, where friends, families and community members could share photos and videos of them jumping for Juliet Zangrilli.
On May 20, Juliet Zangrilli began the treatment process at the Children’s Hospital of Pennsylvania (CHOP). She first received chemotherapy for eight days. Then, Juliet Zangrilli’s brother, Henry Zangrilli, a 6th grader at T/E Middle School, underwent the procedure of harvesting his cells to donate to her for a bone marrow transplant. Later that day, she received his cells and began “Day 0” of the recovery process.
The Zangrilli family started sharing Juliet Zangrilli’s story on CaringBridge, a nonprofit website that allows patients to share their journey to keep friends, family and the community up to date.
“Our first step was just creating the CaringBridge blog,” Molly Zangrilli said. “It was really just because we couldn’t field everyone’s questions anymore. We kept running into the fact that a lot of people didn’t know what was happening with Juliet, so I decided it was time to have one central location for people to get information about her.”
Molly Zangrilli was hoping to find a way to keep Juliet Zangrilli entertained during her treatment, and she came up with the idea for the hashtag #Jumping4Juliet. Supporters could take pictures of them jumping and either tag or send them to the Zangrilli family, giving Juliet Zangrilli positive messages and pictures to see every day.
“When seeing these jumps on Instagram, it lets me know that people still remember me and care about me. It makes me feel really good and appreciated,” Juliet Zangrilli said.
Soon after, the Zangrilli family worked with local business Crush on Creative to create personalized merch that people could wear in support of Juliet Zangrilli. The merch store opened in May and has since sold over 500 T-shirts and hats. A portion of the proceeds were donated to CHOP research in Juliet Zangrilli’s name.
The design of the shirts feature a silhouette of Juliet Zangrilli and her friend Taylor Muhly, an eight grader at T/E Middle School jumping in the waves in Avalon, New Jersey.
“It makes me so happy seeing everyone wearing the shirts because (Juliet) is a big part of our school. Everyone was friends with Juliet, so seeing everyone come together as a whole for her makes me so happy and excited because she deserves it,” Muhly said.
The support and love from the community overwhelmed the Zangrilli family. From gift baskets and handwritten cards, to friends who filled their flower boxes so they had something pretty to look at, to special video messages, there is so much the family wants to thank the community for.
“The support from her school has been really touching. It’s been nice to talk to teachers and to administrators at her school and just hear the concern in their voices and their love for her,” Molly Zangrilli said. “It’s been nice to see the outpouring of support through #Jumping4Juliet and through the CaringBridge as well.”
Bailey Kreszswick can be reached at [email protected].
