Leukemia patient, 16, gets virtual visit from Amy Poehler at Cook Children’s hospital
Lauren Quintero, a 16-year-old with leukemia, has been a fan of Amy Poehler since she saw her in the comedies “Mean Girls” and “Baby Mama.” And as she rides out life in quarantine, the NBC series “Parks and Recreation” is on her Netflix to-watch list.
But during a recent videoconferencing call at Cook Children’s Medical Center in Fort Worth, Quintero was the one who commanded Poehler’s attention.
The actress smiled and nodded along as she spoke with Quintero about everything from her career path, to their favorite TikTok videos to tips to get through quarantine during the coronavirus outbreak, according to a news release from the Cook Children’s Health Care System. In a video showing part of their roughly 40-minute conversation, Quintero described how both she and her mother were diagnosed with cancer in 2017.
In 2019, Quintero said, she relapsed.
“She is the reason I keep fighting,” Quintero said of her mother. “Because she took care of me, so I’ll take care of her.”
Poehler, seated in a room somewhere far away with books behind her, told her, “It feels like there is a lot of strong female energy at your house.”
“I think I’m inspired by people who kinda keep going even if they’re scared,” Poheler said in the video. “And I’m inspired by moms who have to work and raise kids.”
She added she’s “inspired by healthcare workers right now,” the people who are “in the trenches, and then also can’t see their own families.”
The call, which was set up by Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals and Cook Children’s, was meant to brighten the day of a patient who has shown resilience through a long and difficult fight with leukemia.
Children’s Miracle Network approached the Fort Worth hospital about the opportunity to arrange a virtual visit with Poehler over Zoom, according to Kim Brown, a Cook Children’s Health Care System spokesperson. Hospital officials decided Quintero would be a great candidate “because she’s had a tough journey but has a great spirit and attitude,” Brown said.
Quintero prepared a list of questions for the call, she said.
Poehler, known for her time on “Saturday Night Live” and her role as the cheerful optimist Leslie Knope on “Parks and Recreation,” came with questions, too.
“When the plan isn’t going the way you thought, like, how do — what do you do to calm yourself down?” Poehler asked.
Quintero used her own experiences to answer the question.
“You find things that can relax you ... pass the time by doing that,” she said. “Or learn to spend time with your family.”
Poehler ended the conversation by telling Quintero “you really made my day” and to “give all my best to your beautiful family.”
This story was originally published May 13, 2020 at 6:30 PM.
