A restaurant opened early to serve a 3-year-old cancer patient her favorite meal

Adelaide Stanley can’t go out in public or be around people. Seven months of cancer treatment has left the 3-year-old with a weakened immune system.

But she still wanted to dine at her favorite restaurant. When J. Wilson’s in Beaumont, Texas, heard their tiny customer’s desire, they opened up early, decorated in pink and covered the cost of the meal.

“They didn’t have to do any of that,” Adelaide’s mom Vanlam Nguyen told CNN. “But they did.”

Battling cancer

Lunch at the neighborhood favorite J. Wilson’s was a family tradition. They went almost every Sunday.

Then, on her third birthday, Adelaide’s pediatrician told Nguyen to get her checked after he observed red spots on her body. Adelaide started her cancer treatment on July 3, 2019. It was two days after her third birthday.

Their home and the hospital were the few places they went as a family.

“We went from hugging everyone to being a germaphobe, so we don’t bring anything home to her,” Nguyen explained. “We stopped doing what we do as a family,” Nguyen said.

The meal of a lifetime

Last month, Adelaide recognized the J. Wilson’s sign while on the interstate and asked her parents if they could go inside. With a broken heart, her dad replied, “When you get better, we will,” her mom said.

Nguyen told her friend about the sad moment, and her friend reached out to the restaurant to set up a special occasion.

“We didn’t have to think twice about it,” J. Wilson’s manager Paula Breaux told CNN. She opened the restaurant an hour early to accommodate Adelaide and her family.

The staff decorated the restaurant with Adelaide’s favorite color, pink, and made her favorite food: biscuits. Then, there was one final surprise. They covered the cost of the meal, too.

“I was ready to pay for the bill, but it was already taken care of,” Nguyen said. “I can’t explain how much this means to me, her dad and her sister.”

Young Adelaide’s still in treatment. But she can’t wait to go back.