She’s an 8-Year-Old Superhero

Northbrook girl spends four months in hospital fighting rare immune disorder.

All Lacey Horwitch wants for her birthday is to go home. The 8-year-old from Northbrook, who turns 9 on Jan. 19, has spent the last several months in a hospital bed, undergoing rounds of chemotherapy, surgery, and ultimately, a bone marrow transplant.  “She is a little fighter, she does not cry, she does not complain,” says Amy Cassman, a close relative. “This kid is amazing.” Lacey has been hospitalized at Comer Children’s Hospital at the University of Chicago since August, when she was diagnosed with hemophagocytic lymphohistocytis (HLH). The rare disease causes her immune system to attack her own organs and the cells that produce blood in her bone marrow.  On Dec. 29, Lacey received a bone marrow transplant from her father, David. It …

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