Former CHOP patient raises $10K through her slime business to help others

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- This is the best kind of update.

A Philadelphia girl, who we first interviewed last summer, is finished her treatment for leukemia and is in remission.

Not only that, 12-year-old Clara de Groot was back at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia to present the hospital with a check for $10,000 she raised through her slime business to help other children with cancer.

"I raised a lot more than I thought I was going to," exclaimed Clara.

The South Philadelphia girl and her family made the special delivery, a year after she was diagnosed with leukemia.

"It's hard to believe she raised $10,000 by selling slime," declared her mother, Kristen de Groot.

We first met Clara last year, in her hospital room at CHOP.

Initially, she turned to slime to help her relax during treatment, likening the ooey gooey mixture to a stress ball.

Then last April, Clara started a business called Slimes of Courage, vowing to donate the profits to help other patients at CHOP.

When we first interviewed her, Clara explained, "It's kind of like a hard job, except you can't go home for a really long time. You just gotta keep working."

Now, Clara's mother told 6abc, "It just gave her sort of a purpose rather than think about getting treatment. She was like- 'fine I'm getting treatment, but, you know, I have my job.'"

Clara went through five rounds of chemotherapy. With each round, Clara lived at CHOP for more than a month at a time.

Last August, she received her last treatment.

In September, Clara walked out of the hospital and is now in remission.

"Even though it was so hard, it was over, and I can kind of move on a little bit," Clara said.

Clara is once again playing soccer and roller derby. She got a part in the school play.

Her time for slime has dwindled- for now- but she plans to make more free slime kits for other patients, to help them pass the time. The kits were another project she started while she was in the hospital.

"I feel like I want to continue to do what I'm doing, just in a different way," said Clara.

Really, this story is about more than slime. It's about more than $10,000.

At the root of this is a young girl who chose to give back to others, even in some of her toughest moments.

"I have to help in some way," stated Clara.

She continued, "All the people at CHOP helped me so much and helped me get through everything."

Kristen added, "I guess there's some sort of silver lining with everything, and that even when you're handed a plate of terribleness, you can kind of move the ingredients around and make something good out of it."