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Sarah Finnegan
Ashley Huffstutler Balloons
Ashley Huffstutler, left, reads some of the messages and prayers written on the many balloons on her lawn with her mother Mary Fruge, right. A group of friends and volunteers gathered prayers and well wishes from all over the world and wrote them on 1,200 ballons. Ashely Huffstutler, who had been battling a brain tumor for several months, completed her final round of active treatment on January 12, 2018.
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Sarah Finnegan
Ashley Huffstutler Balloons
C.J. Philpot places balloons on the Huffstutlers' lawn early January 13, 2018. A group of friends and volunteers gathered prayers and well wishes from all over the world and wrote them on 1,200 ballons. Ashely Huffstutler, who had been battling a brain tumor for several months, completed her final round of active treatment on January 12, 2018.
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Sarah Finnegan
Ashley Huffstutler Balloons
Ashley Huffstutler, left, reads some of the messages and prayers written on the many balloons on her lawn with her mother Mary Fruge, right. A group of friends and volunteers gathered prayers and well wishes from all over the world and wrote them on 1,200 ballons. Ashely Huffstutler, who had been battling a brain tumor for several months, completed her final round of active treatment on January 12, 2018.
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Sarah Finnegan
Ashley Huffstutler Balloons
David Huffstutler holds his two daughters Diana, left, and Evelyn, right, as they enjoy the mny balloons on their front lawn on January 13, 2018. David's wife Ashely Huffstutler, who had been battling a brain tumor for several months, completed her final round of active treatment on January 12, 2018. A group of friends and volunteers gathered prayers and well wishes from all over the world and wrote them on 1,200 ballons.
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Sarah Finnegan
Ashley Huffstutler Balloons
Ashley Huffstutler, right, hugs and thanks Karly Sisco for the balloon display in her front yard. Ashely Huffstutler, who had been battling a brain tumor for several months, completed her final round of active treatment on January 12, 2018. To celebrate, a group of friends and volunteers gathered prayers and well wishes from all over the world and wrote them on 1,200 ballons.
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Sarah Finnegan
Ashley Huffstutler Balloons
Balloons decorate the front yard of the Huffstutlers' home on January 13, 2018. Ashely Huffstutler, who had been battling a brain tumor for several months, completed her final round of active treatment on January 12, 2018. To celebrate, a group of friends and volunteers gathered prayers and well wishes from all over the world and wrote them on 1,200 ballons.
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Sarah Finnegan
Ashley Huffstutler Balloons
Friends and volunteers continue to bring balloons down to the Huffstutlers' home on January 13, 2018. Ashely Huffstutler, who had been battling a brain tumor for several months, completed her final round of active treatment on January 12, 2018. To celebrate, a group of friends and volunteers gathered prayers and well wishes from all over the world and wrote them on 1,200 ballons.
8 of 12
Sarah Finnegan
Ashley Huffstutler Balloons
Ashley Huffstutler, right, passes a balloon-laden Karly Sisco on January 13, 2018. Ashely Huffstutler, who had been battling a brain tumor for several months, completed her final round of active treatment on January 12, 2018. To celebrate, a group of friends and volunteers gathered prayers and well wishes from all over the world and wrote them on 1,200 ballons.
9 of 12
Sarah Finnegan
Ashley Huffstutler Balloons
Ashley Huffstutler, right, looks around at the many balloons on her lawn with her husband David Huffstutler, right, and daughter Diana. A group of friends and volunteers gathered prayers and well wishes from all over the world and wrote them on 1,200 ballons. Ashely Huffstutler, who had been battling a brain tumor for several months, completed her final round of active treatment on January 12, 2018.
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Sarah Finnegan
Ashley Huffstutler Balloons
Ashley Huffstutler, right, looks on as her daughter Evelyn, 2, examines a bunch of ballons on their front lawn on January 13, 2018. Ashely Huffstutler, who had been battling a brain tumor for several months, completed her final round of active treatment on January 12, 2018.
11 of 12
Sarah Finnegan
Ashley Huffstutler Balloons
Friends and volunteers continue to bring balloons down to the Huffstutlers' home on January 13, 2018. Ashely Huffstutler, who had been battling a brain tumor for several months, completed her final round of active treatment on January 12, 2018. To celebrate, a group of friends and volunteers gathered prayers and well wishes from all over the world and wrote them on 1,200 ballons.
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Sarah Finnegan
Ashley Huffstutler Balloons
Friends and volunteers prepare 1,200 balloons with well wishes and prayers for Ashley Huffstutler to decorate her front yard. Ashely completed her final round of active treatment on January 12, 2018 after battling a brain tumor for several months.
Ashley Huffstutler's friends and neighbors surprised her Saturday morning with a yard full of balloons - 1,200 of them, to be exact.
Huffstutler, a Hoover mother of two who lives near the Preserve, was diagnosed with brain cancer in summer 2017 while pregnant with her younger daughter. Since then, she has undergone brain surgery and chemotherapy to remove the tumor, which her husband David has chronicled in a family blog.
As the Huffstutlers approached the final chemo treatment in January, friends and family members started a project: to gather balloons with the names and locations of people who were praying for Ashley Huffstutler.
Friends gathered at a neighbor's house at 5 a.m. on Saturday, Jan. 13 to blow up the balloons. Jessica Parks, who helped organize the project, said she had roughly 1,200 balloons that came from Alabama, Arkansas, Texas and more, even one as far away as Russia.
The balloons were staked in the Huffstutlers' yard as a surprise and “a physical representation of the people that have been praying for her through her treatment,” Parks said.
