Girl makes prayer beads for cancer patients

TAMPA (FOX 13) - A little girl is lifting spirits at Tampa General Hospital with a special creation.

8-year-old Sienna McHugh makes gift bags for patients there, which include homemade prayer beads. She was inspired to give patients hope after watching her mother battle colorectal cancer.

"It's been really scary, so she told me how bad everybody feels and how they need cheering up so we started making prayer beads," said Sienna.

She includes a personal message on each of her creations.

"I put things like 'believe.' My mom is on chemo too so we know how bad it feels", said Sienna.

She also hopes the beads raise awareness.

"Well my mom thinks that everything happens for a reason so we think that the reason why she got this cancer is because we need to spread the word about getting screened," said Sienna.

Along with patients, Sienna is also giving the prayer beads to the nurses who have been there for her mom.