Justin Bieber Gives Terminal Fan, Maria Kramer, 9, A Day To Remember
Justin Bieber fulfilled one of 9-year-old, Maria Kramer’s, dreams yesterday.
The 21-year-old superstar met super fan Maria in Los Angeles on Friday. The little girl is reportedly the only person in the world recorded as having a partial deletion of her 17th chromosome.
It causes what Maria’s doctors describe as “dying spells,” and resulted in her spending the first year and a half of her life as an intermittent patient at the University of Iowa Children’s Hospital for painful treatments, during which time Maria coded five times. Her diagnosis of Pulmonary Hypertension followed two years ago.
Justin and Maria’s meet was made possible after a two month social media campaign led by Maria’s Iowa-residing parents, Genna Koblentz-Kramer and Mike Kramer. The hashtag #mialovesjustin was used in Twitter and Facebook postings by the family and supporters.
Family friend Christy Ohrt Anderson hosts a GoFundMe page called “Making Memories for Maria” with an accompanying Facebook page. Both update well-wishers with information about her treatment and conditions.
From late April, the #mialovesjustin campaign began rolling out requests for Justin to meet Maria to the Justin Bieber Twitter account.
#JustinBieber #mialovesjustin My brave baby girl! She loves you so much Justin! #EllenDegeneres could u help us?? pic.twitter.com/wOZpuZGjmu
— Genna Kramer (@Kramerg) May 24, 2015
@justinbieber We’d like to make a young girl’s dream come true before she leaves this Earth. She adores you. Can you help? #mialovesjustin
— Kelly McDonald (@kellyhackmack) April 23, 2015
Hey @justinbieber can you help make a little girls dream come true???? #mialovesjustin
— Genevieve Migala (@gmigala) April 24, 2015
Iowa-native Ashton Kutcher, and daytime host Ellen DeGeneres were also contacted by the Kramer family and others during efforts get in touch with Justin’s team.
@justinbieber @TheEllenShow – Please Mia’s dream come true to meet Justin!!! #mialovesjustin https://t.co/P4Ct8TwHqt
— Dawn (@dawnknapp1972) May 22, 2015
@kelly_mcdonald2 Just go straight to the top: @TheEllenShow #mialovesjustin
— Nick Arnold (@iNickArnold) April 28, 2015
@aplusk I dont assume you know every celeb but if you can help Genna Coblentz’s daughter meet @justinbieber that would rock! #mialovesjustin
— Kelly McDonald (@kellyhackmack) April 23, 2015
@TheEllenShow you make dreams happen! Can you help us put a smile on the face of the strongest fighter I know @justinbieber #mialovesjustin
— Kelly McDonald (@kellyhackmack) April 23, 2015
Kutcher got in touch with Justin’s manager Scooter Braun by late May.
Thanks for making me aware @aplusk. I think I know someone who knows him ? https://t.co/Mdi8H5A89w
— Scooter Braun (@scooterbraun) May 30, 2015
And the result? Maria’s dream came true. She met Justin Bieber. Social media posts of messages and photos shared by the Kramer family and their supporters, reveal the little girl was thrilled to spend time with the heartthrob.
After meeting Maria, Justin tweeted a note of thanks hours later.
He wrote, “#mialovesjustin #justinlovesmia ) @aplusk @scooterbraun thanks.”
#mialovesjustin #justinlovesmia ? @aplusk @scooterbraun thanks pic.twitter.com/z5BrRMSQ06
— Justin Bieber (@justinbieber) June 6, 2015
All of the posts shared by the Kramers and others involved in the #MialovesJustin effort thank the singer and/or Kutcher for bringing joy into Maria’s life.
@aplusk Thank you so very much for making Maria’s dream come true!!! You truly are an Iowa Hometown Hero!!!! #mialovesjustin
— Dawn (@dawnknapp1972) June 5, 2015
Amazing!!! Thank you @justinbieber #mialovesjustin @Kramerg pic.twitter.com/YH8mv7XZZU
— Kelly McDonald (@kellyhackmack) June 5, 2015
Thank you everyone Maria’s dream came true #mialovesjustin #JustinBieber pic.twitter.com/zzFDcnBDo7
— Courtney Eckrich (@CourtneyEckrich) June 5, 2015
Thank you @justinbieber for making Maria’s dream come true. You’re awesome! #mialovesjustin #makingmemoriesformaria pic.twitter.com/AT5qjeigSe
— Barbara Malmberg (@sassyrogue) June 5, 2015
It’s days like today that helps to restore faith in humanity. Thank you @justinbieber for making Maria’s dream come true. #mialovesjustin
— Barbara Malmberg (@sassyrogue) June 5, 2015
Talk about a dream come true! Thanks to @aplusk for helping Mia get the opportunity of a lifetime! #mialovesjustin pic.twitter.com/m4cZO7GmNs
— Matt Haas (@haasmc) June 5, 2015
Meanwhile, the Kramers’ efforts to help Maria through her medical procedures continue. Genna and Mike are also dealing with the reality that their daughter will have a short life.
According to details at Maria’s GoFundMe page, the 9-year-old stopped “responding to heart medications and/or the oxygen used to… manage her pulmonary hypertension” just a few months ago. Maria is now on stronger medication which she began taking on April 27 and is receiving hospice care.
In the time that Maria has left, the Kramers are committed to filling their daughter’s life with great memories. If you would like to make a donation to help the family continue to do that, visit the GoFundMe page. A benefit for Maria takes place in Iowa on July 11 from 9 a.m.
Thanks to Justin Bieber — whose outreach work with children continues with the Make-A-Wish Foundation and Pencils of Promise — Maria Kramer and her family have an amazing day to add to their memories. May there be many more to come.
[Images via Facebook]