09/02/2026
💛 Today, we are honored to introduce you to Lily, one of our Warriors.
At just 1 year old, Lily’s family’s world changed when swelling around her eye led to a diagnosis of retinoblastoma, a rare form of eye cancer. She underwent surgery to remove her left eye, treatment for tumors in her right eye, and six rounds of chemotherapy.
Through it all, Lily’s smile never stopped reminding her family just how precious every moment is. Today, more than a year after her diagnosis, she is happy, bubbly, and full of life, with no signs of new tumor growth. 💛
Today, we’re honored to share Lily’s story, in her family’s words.
Lily’s Story
Where do I even begin?
Our daughter, Lily Morss, is a beautiful, bright little girl who has brought more joy into our lives than words can describe.
On December 18, 2024, my wife noticed that Lily’s left eye was swollen. For a couple of days before that, she hadn’t been acting like herself. She kept burying her head in my arm, and we knew something wasn’t right. She wasn’t feeling well.
I took her to the emergency room, where they performed a CT scan. Around 2:00 a.m., the doctor came back and said they had found something behind her eye and that she needed to be transferred to Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee.
About two hours later, around 4:00 a.m., everything changed.
A nurse came into the room and told me, “You’re going to need to go home and pack an overnight bag. We’ve already got a room ready for you at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.”
The moment I heard those words, I knew.
Cancer.
I felt like I couldn’t breathe. My mind immediately went into survival mode. The only thing I could think was, “Is my baby going to die?”
I had to go home and get my wife. She had been asleep because all of this had happened so quickly. I called her and told her what was going on, and she immediately started crying.
I got home, woke up our four boys, and we all headed back to the hospital. Lily had to stay behind because she was already under the doctors’ care.
When we arrived, they told me Lily’s room at St. Jude was ready and that I could go ahead and drive there. I hadn’t slept at all, but there was no way I could. I was terrified.
I arrived at St. Jude around 6:00 a.m. and waited.
Because Lily had to be transported by ambulance, I couldn’t bring her myself. All I could do was wait… and cry.
Lily is my only daughter. She has four older brothers who absolutely adore her. She’s my little princess, and I was terrified that I was going to lose the only little girl I’ll ever have.
I registered Lily, got our family badges, and tried to keep myself together while waiting for my wife and daughter to arrive.
Finally, around 10:00 a.m., the ambulance pulled in.
By then, Lily’s left eye had swollen so much it looked like it was going to pop out. The moment I saw her, I just picked her up and held her.
Soon after, it felt like twenty different doctors came into the room. They explained what they believed was wrong and what the next steps would be.
Lily was diagnosed with retinoblastoma, a rare eye cancer.
Just two days later, on December 20, 2024, she underwent surgery to remove her left eye.
After surgery, her doctor sat down with us and explained that there was no way to save it. The tumor had grown so aggressively that it had cut off its own blood supply and destroyed the eye.
Then we learned something else that broke our hearts.
Lily also had two additional tumors in her right eye.
Thankfully, her surgeon was able to treat those tumors with laser therapy.
Almost immediately after surgery, we saw our little girl come back to us.
She wasn’t in pain anymore. She was smiling again. Laughing. Acting like the happy one-year-old we knew and loved. Seeing that smile again healed a part of her mother’s heart and mine.
On December 23, Lily had her chemotherapy port placed, and we met with her oncology team to discuss the next phase of treatment.
We were able to go home for two days and spend Christmas together as a family.
During one of the darkest times of our lives, our community surrounded us with love.
Churches prayed for us.
Friends, family, and complete strangers showed up to support us.
People bought Christmas presents for our children, brought meals, prayed over our family, and reminded us that we were not fighting alone.
To this day, I don’t think we’ll ever truly be able to thank everyone who helped us.
Over the next several months, Lily endured six rounds of chemotherapy. We traveled back and forth to St. Jude countless times. There were long days, sleepless nights, and more prayers than I can count.
Today, it has been a little over a year since Lily’s diagnosis.
By the grace of God, she has shown no signs of any new tumor growth.
She still faces challenges. Scar tissue in her right eye has created traction on her retina, and her doctors have told us she may eventually need to travel to Houston, Texas, for specialized eye surgery to help relieve that traction and protect the vision she has left.
But today…
Lily is happy.
She is full of life.
She is bubbly, funny, and always smiling.
She is the greatest blessing her mother and I could have ever asked for, and her four brothers absolutely adore her.
Every smile she gives us is a reminder of how precious life is.
We will never be able to express enough gratitude to the incredible doctors, nurses, specialists, and every employee at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Their compassion, dedication, and countless hours of care gave our daughter a chance to keep smiling.
Thank you to every person who prayed, donated, encouraged us, and stood beside our family.
Because of you, we never felt alone.
Most importantly…
Thank you, God, for giving us more time with our little girl.
Her smile is our greatest blessing, and we cherish every single day we get to spend with her. 💛
