Stephanie, Maddie, Chris and Peyton Ogle await the Special Spaces team at their Signal Mountain home, where Peyton’s bedroom was transformed into a haven with golf and Tennessee Vols themes.
Photo by Emily CrismanOver the weekend, Knoxville-based Special Spaces gave 6-year-old cancer patient Peyton Ogle’s Signal Mountain bedroom the makeover of his dreams, complete with his favorite sports themes.
Peyton was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia in November 2007. On Valentine’s Day of this year, the Ogles got a call announcing Peyton’s cells were clear. He continues to go back to the oncology unit at Children’s Hospital at Erlanger once a month to have his cells checked, and once he is clear for five years, he will be considered a survivor.
“These kids go through a lot, and from a parent’s perspective, it’s really an unspeakable nightmare to watch your child suffer that way,” said Peyton’s mother, Stephanie Ogle, who added that boys go through active treatment for three years, taking oral chemotherapy every day. “If there’s something that can bring pure joy away from hospitals and medicine, then it’s a priceless thing.”
Peyton’s father Chris Ogle said he was listening to Tony Basilio’s Knoxville radio show when it featured Special Spaces, a nonprofit offering room makeovers for children diagnosed with cancer.
“Some kids get a wish or a shopping trip, but a room makeover is something they get to have for as long as they want it, something that’s lasting,” said Stephanie Ogle. “If you give them their dream bedroom, that’s their place that’s a haven.”