Willow Cannan gets help from a Laurel native who wants to say ‘Bye Bye Bye’ to MSD

A little girl from Ocean Springs recently got a very special visit from someone who wants to help her in her fight.

Laurel native Lance Bass posted pictures of him with Willow Cannan on his official Facebook page asking for donations for MSD, which Willow was diagnosed with when she was 2 years old.

“Not many people know about this,” part of the post read. “Will you do Willow and myself a favor and learn a little about it?”

MSD stands for Multiple Sulfatase Deficiency and is is a genetic, ultra-rare lysosomal storage disease that causes the body to deteriorate. There is no known cure for it.

Since her diagnosis, Willow’s parents Amber Olsen and Tom Cannan have tried to raise $1 million for research and a potential clinical trial. Because the disease is so rare, medical research is scarce, but Olsen said she wants to change that.

“The community is very supportive, monetarily and with prayers and kind words,” Olsen previously told the Sun Herald. “Even at Christmas time, we had a couple people that were worried, they wanted to help our family with Christmas gifts — they’ve been very kind.”

Olsen said children with MSD usually don’t live to see their 10th birthday. Willow is now 4.

If you would like to make a donation to Willow and her family, visit CureMSD.org.

Social Media Editor Justin Mitchell contributed to this report.

This story was originally published August 11, 2018 at 12:34 PM.