‘I cannot stop crying about it’: Madison student battling cancer gets escort home from hospital

Madison High School junior Mattie Cole left the hospital Saturday, and dozens of her supporters throughout Butler County made sure she left in a big way.

Cole, who has been battling cancer during the past year, finished a round of chemotherapy and an extended stay at Liberty Twp.’s Children’s Medical Center.

Dozens of supporters, including motorcyclists and a Jeep Club, organized to make Cole’s trip home even more special by serenading her as she was wheeled out the hospital and then forming a car and jeep caravan as her family drove her home.

“I cannot stop crying about it,” said her mother, Jody Cole. “The help and support from everyone has been so overwhelming.”

Cole has a rare form of bone cancer but has been maintaining her schooling at Butler Tech’s dental technician program despite her illness.

The chemotherapy treatments Mattie has received will cause her to become infertile, her mother said.

In January, one of Mattie’s ovaries was harvested and frozen until she decides to start a family. That procedure, which isn’t covered by any insurance, will be paid by funds raised from the community.

“It has been both an awful experience and a wonderful experience,” Cole’s mother said, referring to the wide community support her daughter has received.

“It restores your faith in humanity and even in this ugly world there is so much good in it.”

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