Critically ill children get a day of worry-free fun

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- For one day, critically ill children and their families got the chance to have worry-free fun at the Independence Seaport Museum.

On Tuesday, the children were not patients, they were pirates - traveling the watery highway along the Delaware and exploring naval life at the turn of the century.

8-year-old Jahnavi tested a battle rattle that pirates used to scare away other pirates.

"Jahnavi just turned 8 years old two days ago and she has leukemia. Her treatment has worked very well and she's almost completing treatment at the end of August," said Medhu Belur, parent.

The 'Casey Cares Foundation,' a non-profit, hosted this party to give the children battling life-threatening injuries and their families a chance to focus on having fun.

It's an opportunity to be relieved of the stress of doctors' appointments and hospital treatments.

"We usually have a full day. Tomorrow is CHOP, Children's Hospital all day," said Dana Ricciardi, parent.

Her daughter has had cancer since she was 2 years old. She and her husband traveled two hours with her to be there.

Tony, Marsha and Debbie Wagner brought their seven adopted special needs children to the party.

The three sisters are all single moms. Marsha, a nurse, was the first to adopt.

"I saw that there were a lot of special needs kids in foster care or that needed moms and I knew that I had the medical knowledge to help them out," she said.

Casey Cares has been providing uplifting events to children and their families for 14 years.

"I initially thought we'd help a couple of families a year but just last year we helped over 10,000 critically ill children," said Casey Baynes, foundation president.