Rick and Carly’s Kids – Annibelle From Emmett Idaho

Annibelle lives with her mom, dad, and brother in Emmett, Idaho.  Annibelle's life journey is a short one so far but filled with a lot of living.  She's only 5-years-old which means that for the most part, she hasn't taken too much notice yet when people stare at her, make rude comments or gestures, tease, or bully.  She hardly knows what any of those things mean.  But that could all change soon and Annibelle's mom (Heather) is worried.

Annibelle has a tumor that causes facial paralysis.  This isn't something that's just come on here recently, as you can see in the picture below, she's dealt with this her entire life.

Annibelle's mom has been able to keep a close eye on her beautiful daughter for her entire life.  A couple of years ago Annibelle started pre-school and Heather is one of the teachers so she's had the opportunity to help other kids understand how and why she's different.  After some time had passed these other kids don't look at Annibelle like she's different at all.  She's just one of them.

Fast forward to NOW.  Annibelle is not far off of starting kindergarten where new challenges face her.  Mom will not be there at all times to help educate or watch over her little baby.  Annibelle will have lots of new classmates and she'll also have hundreds of other kids she'll be around during recess, lunch, and school activities.  How are those kids going to react when they come into contact with Annibelle?  Will there be teasing, whispering, pointing, bullying... the list goes on and on and THIS is exactly what mom's worried about.

There is one possible miracle for Annibelle.  A very complex surgery that one doctor in California could pull off but the overall cost for this surgery hits around $85,000.  Oh, and here's the catch.  Insurance doesn't cover this because it's considered cosmetic.

We heard about this story and just had to do something.  Check out our call to Heather in the video below.

Annibelle has since come down to the 104.3 WOW Country to be a guest deejay on the Rick and Carly in the morning show.  She was a bit shy at first so we didn't get her on the microphone much but once we hooked her up with tickets to see Cinderella with the Idaho Ballet, VIP Passes to Wahooz, Roaring Springs Season Passes, Boise Music Festival Tickets, and a beautiful princess dress, shoes, and crown bought and paid for by our Rick and Carly's Kids sponsor EPIC SHINE CAR WASH... she warmed up to us.

All of that is nice but the real challenge is raising enough money so that Annibelle can get this surgery and feel, for the first time ever, what it's like to be a normal kid.  So we reached out to our good friend Maggie O'Mara at KTVB and Maggie jumped on board instantly.  KTVB brought the crew down to our studios, filmed Annibelle and are currently producing an entire piece on her story that'll air in the 7's HERO portion of their newscast Sunday night.

Our hope is that this great community will open up their hearts and come together giving this family a chance at some normality.  This beautiful 5-year-old girl is part of the 104.3 family now.  Annibelle, we LOVE you.