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She likes to do many of the same things that other 9-year-old girls like to do: play with her Barbie dolls, her cat, and her little brother. A shy child, she is a Brownie, and enjoys taking walks in the woods, reading, and playing piano.
When she developed a fever, the music had to wait. Her pediatrician, who had trained at Arkansas Children’s Hospital, thought she should be examined by a specialist he knew there. Within hours, she was diagnosed as having an advanced case of neuroblastoma, a kind of cancer that affects the nervous system.
Surgery was performed, supplemented by radiation, chemotherapy, and a bone marrow transplant.
To ease what must have been a frightening experience for child and parents, her doctors, nurses and therapists always explained what they were doing and why; answered questions; even saw to it that her mom and dad could be with her through every procedure except surgery. But children need security at times like these—especially bashful children—so it was no problem for her to take her blanket into surgery.
“We were all scared, but pleased,” her parents say. “You can never give up. The staff at Children’s always keeps trying… and they made us feel like one big, happy family.”
So on his birthday last spring, it came as a great present but no surprise that his orthopaedic device was removed and he walked away from Arkansas Children’s Hospital on his own two straightened legs.
She’s doing well—healthwise, and at school—and our staff members who see her every six months say that she is outgrowing her shyness.
And that’s music to our ears.
Arkansas Children’s Hospital
Where love can move mountains.
YOUR CHILDREN ARE OUR CHILDREN.
8th and Marshall Streets Little Rock, AR 72202-3591 370-1100
| Copy: Art Director: Medium: Client: Agency: Year: |
Keith Brenton Debbie Strobel 4-Color Newspaper Arkansas Children’s Hospital Cranford Johnson Robinson Woods 1988 |
The first ad in this series, (“Equestrian,” left) was written by Creative Director Ralph Patterson, and my task for the remaining three was to continue the narrative writing style and word count. “Your Children Are Our Children” was the positioning line I created for the client, which was retained for many years (and even borrowed later on by another children’s hospital elsewhere, I understand). This series of four ads featured beautiful done-by-hand pastel illustrations made from photographs at a time before PhotoShop made that easy.
249 Spring Street • Eureka Springs, AR 72632
wryterkb@gmail.com
W. Keith Brenton 