PHOENIX — Cancer has stolen Thomas Henthorn's eyesight, but it hasn't stolen his Christmas.
A grass-roots project called Kate's Crazy Cool Christmas made sure this week that the 10-year-old Mesa boy, his mother and three siblings had their holiday dreams fulfilled.
On Tuesday, the Henthorns stood nearly speechless in the waiting room of Phoenix Children's Hospital's outpatient clinic and unwrapped a small mountain of gifts that included CDs autographed by country-music stars such as Taylor Swift, a Nintendo Wii, and a guitar with a gift certificate for $500 in lessons.
Thomas is an avid country-music fan.
"This is amazing," said Holly O'Hare, a family friend who came along to enjoy the celebration. "They didn't know Thomas, but it is just like they know him."
At least eight other families in the Valley and four in other states have received or will receive similar windfalls of gifts from the project, which is the brainchild of Gilbert mom Holly McRae.
Eighteen months ago, McRae's daughter Kate, now 6, developed brain cancer and started a series of grueling medical treatments that included major brain surgery, radiation, a stem-cell transplant and chemotherapy.
The idea for a toy drive for oncology patients at Phoenix Children's came to McRae last holiday season, as she waited for her daughter to finish a treatment.
"It really came right from my wife's heart," said Holly McRae's husband and Kate's father, Aaron McRae, a pastor at Chandler's Cornerstone Church. The couple have two other children, Olivia, 8, and Will, 5.
The gift drive had solid support at Cornerstone, but after Holly blogged about it on a website called prayforkate.com and mentioned it on social-networking sites like Twitter and Facebook, word about Crazy Cool went viral.
"We have no idea how the story first got out there," Holly said. "It seems like people found our site and kept checking back to see how Kate was doing. Then, they found out about the toy drive."
Last year, Kate didn't participate in the drive because she was in the hospital. But on Tuesday, she skipped back and forth, carrying packages from five SUVs parked outside the hospital to a Christmas tree in the waiting room.
The Gilbert Centennial Elementary School kindergartener is now out of treatment and her condition is stable, her mother said.
Last year, toys arrived from 46 states, Canada and Japan. There were more than enough for Phoenix Children's oncology floor, so toys also went to every part of Phoenix Children's as well as to Cardon Children's Medical Center in Mesa.
This year, gifts arrived again from around the country, Canada, England and Denmark, Holly said.
Some people donated postage so gifts could be sent to families outside of Arizona. Others sent cash and gift cards so volunteers could shop for gifts for parents and siblings.
Phoenix Children's social worker Gina DeGraw said it's not unusual for families of cancer patients to bring toys at holiday time or even set up foundations to support the hospital. But few efforts go national or international.
"It's wonderful to see people's generosity and then to see people's gratitude," Aaron said. "This year, we decided to specialize a bit and asked people to help families who are struggling financially. We gave them specific requests from the kids, their siblings and parents."
Holly noted that Crazy Cool also sponsored a few families with children who have died of cancer this year.
"It's important to remember to help them, too, because support can really fall away once you are no longer going to the hospital," she said.
Information from: The Arizona Republic, http://www.azcentral.com