and both were born much earlier—30
weeks—than expected. Their mother,
Darcie Pettigrew, stayed in New Hanover
Regional Medical Center for a month on
bed rest while she was pregnant because
her amniotic fluid was leaking.
“We had a pretty eventful pregnancy,”
Darcie explains.
In utero Lillian had a stroke, which
left her with cerebral palsy-spastic
quadriparesis.
Lillian is unable to walk and for the
most part unable to speak.
But her mother says, “She signs. She
32
WBM november 2011
says ‘yes.’ She can communicate well
enough to get what she needs.”
She smiles contently as her mother
speaks proudly of Lillian and as her
father, Andy Pettigrew, prepares her buttered
toast and grits for breakfast.
When Lillian hears light footsteps coming
down the hall she knows it’s Mama.
When they’re heavy she can tell Daddy
is on his way. And when she hears someone
running she knows it’s Kaylee, who
tells her mother she wished she could
have a chair with wheels of her own like
Lillian’s.
Kaylee and Lillian share the same
room. They wouldn’t have it any other
Landfall Christmas Home Tour
The annual Christmas Festival of Homes Tour benefitting Welcome Home Angel will
feature six luxurious Landfall homes decorated for the holidays which will remain open
to the public from 2-5 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, December 10 and 11. Tickets are
$25 and available at Indoff Business Interiors, NoFo, La Bella Forma, Landfall Realty,
Realty World Cape Fear. Shuttles will leave from the Realty World Cape Fear office at the
Forum for non-Landfall residents/members.
Gage Justice with his mom Amy Justice and little
brother Drake Harker, pose inside Gage’s newly
remodeled Harley-Davidson themed room.
Jennifer France, Big Sky Design and Frank Lewis,
Commercial Upfit Specialist, teamed up to work
on the project to improve the space for Gage who
has Muscular Dystrophy.