CINCINNATI — When I asked Summer, a patient at Cincinnati Children's Medical Center, what she wanted people to know about her, she placed her finger to her lips. She made an audible hmmm before answering.
"My favorite color is yellow," Summer said. "And I have a boyfriend."
She laughs — laughter that hasn't always been easy to find the last few months. On Halloween, this young girl is 14 hours away from her home in Florida. She broke her leg this summer, and that's when doctors discovered bone cancer.
Her parents drove her to Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center. She's been staying here for more than four months. Her dad tells me doctors amputated Summer's leg a couple of weeks ago.
But if you didn't ask her about it, you wouldn't know. Because on Friday, the hospital's child life team are dressed up like life-size characters from the movie "Cars." And one of them challenged Summer to a race.
WATCH: See her reaction to the hospital's surprise
It was a surprise. The team didn't even want to tell the public relations employee who escorted me into the hospital on Friday.
"Halloween is absolutely our favorite day of the year," said Ashleigh Hoying, a child life specialist there. "I don’t know who has more fun — us or the kids."
No one wants to be in the hospital on a holiday. Especially not a cancer unit. But the reality is, many are. And that's why the staff started coming up with elaborate costumes and themes.
"This is like our Super Bowl," Hoying said.
She's dressed like a sheriff car, with tin foil and a flashing emergency light. She asked me if I want her to turn it on, and then laughed after she did. One car literally has wheels — and two people inside.
More than a dozen staff members walked into the parking lot on Friday morning. They're looking for a place big enough to take a group picture.
"Hospitals are a really scary place for kids," Hoying said. "So my job is to make the hospital easier. And let kids be kids."
The team has been doing this for years, but they said they're unsure if they'll be able to top their "Cars" theme.
"We figured go big or go home," said Katie Dorn, another child life specialist.
She got to dress up as Lightning McQueen, and as she walked into the hospital to surprise Summer, she said "Ka-chow!" multiple times. A colleague dressed up as Mater said, "Get 'er done."
"We had one patient just cover up his mouth, because we just kept coming," Dorn said. "He was speechless. It was incredible."
In a lobby near the entrance, the employees dressed as cars surrounded Summer. She spun around in her wheelchair while her dad kept the cords from her IV machine from getting tangled.
"When we first got here, she was very anxious," said Taylor Dunn, Summer's dad. "But as time has gone on, she’s opened up. She's made friends. These guys take such great care of us."
Dunn bent over and asked how his daughter was doing. He told me their plan is to stay at the hospital until at least March, but he doesn't know for sure. That's their reality now.
Then, he pointed directly into my camera. There's a race to get to.
"You're going to want to catch this," Dunn said. "She's fast."
Summer won the race, and a staff member handed her a trophy, and people erupted in applause. Summer gave a high five, and then gave the trophy back.
"You still deserve this," Summer said.
