With a serious brain surgery set to make her miss out on many holiday festivities, a young Columbia girl was recently treated to an early Christmas thanks to the efforts of the community.

Evy Auld, as her mother Jenny explained, is a 12-year-old girl originally from China.

Jenny, who works as the preschool and children director at First Baptist Church in Columbia, said she adopted Evy from an orphanage in 2017, having met her on a mission trip.

In the past six years, Evy has dealt with a number of health issues, requiring back surgery that was set to leave her struggling to walk for weeks – she was able to walk in just 10 days – as well as surgery on her hip.

Additionally, Evy was born with cerebral palsy, though Jenny said she’s always known about this particular condition and has been sure to give her whatever therapy she needed.

She’s also required accommodations due to her deafness. This condition was discovered somewhat more recently, and she has since had a cochlear implant, largely communicates through sign language and also has an interpreter in school.

Perhaps most impactful for Evy over the last few years have been frequent, severe seizures which have persisted through nearly a dozen separate medications.

Jenny said these seizures demand she go to the hospital, further impacting Evy as they cause her to forget and have to redevelop and learn a number of skills.

Despite her health concerns, Jenny said Evy is an exceptionally cheerful young girl. She further described her as a fighter.

“Everyone who meets her will tell you she’s probably the most joyful kid you will ever meet,” Jenny said. “She’s thankful for any little thing.”

Evy’s latest surgery – which is taking place Wednesday – is a hemispherotomy, a removal of brain tissue meant to address her seizures.

“Basically, they’re disconnecting half of her brain,” Jenny said. “She has focal seizures, so they’re only from one half of her brain. The hope is that it will 100 percent stop her seizures.”

As it is brain surgery, the procedure is invasive and is expected to leave her in recovery for a substantial period of time, staying in bed for over a week before going through a weeks-long rehab process to recover her ability to walk. Her vision will also be permanently affected by the surgery.

This long recovery in the hospital means Evy will unfortunately have to spend Christmas away from home.

Jenny noted that while she’ll certainly be conscious and still able to enjoy the holiday when it comes, she has been quite upset over the last month as she won’t be able to enjoy a number of Christmas traditions.

One part of the holiday Evy was especially upset about missing was seeing her house strung up in Christmas lights, though, as Jenny said, a number of family friends heard about the situation and got the house decorated.

Jenny recalled Evy crying when she came home to see the house made up for the season.

This sparked an even wider community effort, with folks from the church, city and other local organizations hoping to give Evy a Christmas to remember.

Among the individuals contributing to the effort was City of Columbia Community Relations Coordinator Marla Rose, who recalled knowing what Evy has gone through while working as a librarian at Eagleview Elementary.

She heard about the house decoration effort through the church and felt the city could also try to make the holidays special for Evy.

“Knowing everything that they had been through, obviously we wanted to help in any way that we could,” Rose said.

What came together was an early Christmas party that’s sure to stick with Evy for a long time to come.

The festivities took place Monday evening. Plenty of folks gathered to enjoy cookies and cocoa or drop off small gifts and cards for Evy.

Even more participated by just driving by along Main Street, honking their horns to let her know they wished her a Merry Christmas.

Jenny said Evy first thought folks had just gathered for a typical Christmas party, though she was more than excited when she finally realized it was all for her.

Rose emphasized just how much of a community effort the event was, with churches, local scouts and plenty of others all playing a role in Evy’s Christmas.

Rose was even able to get in touch with a highly-recommended Santa Claus.

As Jenny said, this visit from St. Nick had an exceptional effect on Evy. While she’s understandably been anxious as the surgery approaches, kind words from Santa have seemed to be a major source of courage for her.

“Santa came to visit her to tell her to be strong,” Jenny said, “and she continues to tell people, ‘I’m going to the hospital, and Santa said to be strong. I’m going to be strong because Santa told me to be strong. Santa will know that I’m at the hospital, and I’m going to be strong because Santa told me to be strong.’ It’s definitely been an inspiration for her.”

Evy’s role in Columbia’s holiday season didn’t end there, though, as Rose also invited her to flip the switch during the city’s annual Christmas Tree Lighting outside City Hall – keeping her distance from other attendees to avoid germs just like at the Christmas party.

“We just really wanted to include her, let her be a part of the season and the magic of the season in the community so hopefully all of that will bring her hope and positive vibes and thoughts as she’s going into this pretty big surgery,” Rose said.

Rose further spoke about how these efforts among the community have had an effect beyond just ensuring Evy gets a good Christmas.

“People in all communities, people in general like a reason to be giving,” Rose said. “This is the season of giving of ourselves, of our time, of our talents, of our hearts to other people. I think it was a really nice opportunity, not just for Evy, but for other people to be able to do that together, so hopefully it will brighten everybody’s spirits going into the holidays.”

Jenny expressed her appreciation for those who contributed and stressed her hopes that Evy will be able to come out of the surgery healthier but just as happy as she always is.

“It takes your breath away. We have such a generous city,” Jenny said. “I can’t say thank you enough for what they’ve done to show support, that they have our backs and that they’re there for us  and praying for us and thinking of her.”