KSHB 41 reporter Olivia Acree covers portions of Johnson County, Kansas, including Olathe and Lenexa. Share your story idea with Olivia.
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A Parade of Hearts sculpture honoring a young cancer fighter is coming home to the Olathe elementary school that he once attended.
Noah Wilson was just 6 years old when he was diagnosed with cancer. During treatment, he noticed many children in hospitals only received plain bandages. Wanting to brighten their days, he started collecting colorful bandages and sharing them with other kids. That effort grew into Noah's Bandage Project.
Noah has since passed away, but his impact on the community has lasted more than a decade.
“It's been a little over 10 years,” said Deborah Wilson, Noah’s mom. "As a parent, losing a child is devastating, but to continue this many years later to see the community all rally together and pull together, it's just incredibly humbling.”
To honor Noah’s legacy, Prairie Center Elementary art teacher Lindsay Frack and her students created a Parade of Hearts sculpture using bandages, including some collected by Noah himself. Frack then teamed up with Noah's mom, and with the help of a generous community, they raised the money to buy Noah's heart sculpture and bring it home to Prairie Center Elementary.
"It feels like we're bringing him home. We just couldn't imagine it anywhere else," Frack said.
For Wilson, the message behind the sculpture is a fitting tribute to her son.
"Noah's legacy and his heart being at Prairie Center, it will continue to just hopefully ignite conversations, and how no matter how old you are, you can make a difference," Wilson said.
The heart will be delivered later this summer to live permanently outside of Noah's old elementary school.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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