Remembering Bailee Stackhouse

(ABC 6 News) – When you have someone you care about, you hold onto that person and show them unconditional love. No matter what.

That’s what one Wykoff family did. They loved their four year old daughter Bailee Stackhouse to the moon and back.

But a few months ago, she passed away from stage four cancer. ABC 6 NEWS Anchor Devin Martin has been following Bailee’s story for the past year and shares her families final message.

No matter where you look in the Stackhouse home, images of Bailee are everywhere.

Bailee loved to travel and live life to the fullest. She was persistent to get through any obstacle that life had for her.

“She was an amazing little girl that always managed to give us a smile,” Brandon Stackhouse, Bailee’s dad said.

And that’s what she did. Smile.

Bailee spent one last trip of hers to Disney World. She loved every second of it. It was an escape for her.

“She felt fantastic. She looked like she was having a blast,” Sara Stackhouse, Bailee’s mom said.

Right before the trip Bailee was referred to for Hospice Care.

She was two and a half years old when she was first disagnosed with stage four cancer.

“The worst thing every parent has to go through is seeing their kid go through a sickness, a cancer like Bailee did,” Brandon Stackhouse said.

“Daddy are we going to go to your shed or my shed?”

Bailee had a toy shed and she loved to play in there.

“We weren’t able to go out a lot, and do a lot of things, with the experience of Cancer, we had to make due with what we had,” Brandon Stackhouse said.

And where Bailee played, there were signs of community support.

She was never alone.

The Fillmore County Community held a truck parade for her.

And before that, the Rock Road Bandits had an ATV Benefit ride for her. The community support was endless.

“People we didn’t even know were there for us, which was really special,” Sara Stackhouse said.

Bailee passed away in July, but her story will always live on.

“Is there anything you’d like to tell Bailee?”

“I’m sad with how much she had to go through. All of the chemo and radiation. All of the tricky parts as she would call them,” Brandon Stackhouse said.

“I’d tell her she did a really nice job, we miss her, wish she was here,” Sara Stackhouse said.

One of Bailee’s favorite things to do when she was here was riding her pink jeep.

She made such a difference in people’s lives, and she’s looking down on her mom and dad now running through mud puddles in heaven.

“She was always thrilled to go for a jeep ride,” Brandon Stackhouse said.