Ronald McDonald House Helps Family From Indonesia Whose Son Is Battling Eye Cancer
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Five-year-old Pieter Braharsi loves to draw, and he's pretty good, too.
Which is amazing when you consider this.
"Pieter was diagnosed at 1-week-old in Indonesia and by the age of 2 weeks old they removed one of his eyes, the left eye and by the age of a few weeks he had to begin his journey with chemotherapy," said his mother Irma Braharsi. "We fight hard for his life and his sight."
To save his life, Pieter and his mom took a 27-hour flight from Indonesia to Philadelphia so his cancer could be treated at Wills Eye Institute and Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.
During his treatments, Pieter and his mom stay at the Ronald McDonald House of southern New Jersey.
"The hospital trips were tiring for him," said Braharsi. "They poke him around and it's sometimes traumatic, but when he gets home and when he plays with all the children, he forgets about it, he just forgets and he loves spending time in the playroom."
"I like to play here," Pieter said. "So many things to do here."
And for Braharsi, the house is a safe haven from the hospital – a place of comfort.
"Ask how are you, how is it going, how's the treatment and other families are giving us a hug when there is good news or giving us a hug if we need to cry," she said. "It's a house filled with love."
The love of family.
"We know that even though we are 27 hours away from home, we are at home," she said.
Pieter wanted to show us his special friend who is just like him.
"I'm pieter and i have an elephant. The elephant can take out his eye. It's a special eye, like me," the young boy said.
"He say, 'Mom. look at the plane. It's red. The taxi is yellow. The sky is blue,' and he cannot stop drawing and he cannot stop taking picture with the camera," Pieter's mother said. "So that's simple things in life that you may think that is taking for granted. For him it's like his joy."