MILLSBORO, Del. - She is the newest and cutest face for Gerber, and 14-month old Londyn Ridley just so happens to be from Millsboro.
"She won her milestone entry which is the crawler category. There was 33,000 entries and so it was a complete shot in the dark, so I was completely thrilled to find out she had won," said Londyn's mother, Kelley.
The proud mom says once Londyn's adorable picture hit Facebook in September, she got all the likes needed to steal the title and the prize: a $10,000 Gerber Grow Up Plan, which will be used for her college education.
"I could only imagine what the cost will be by the time she's 18 so it will definitely be a huge help," said Kelley.
However, there's one person Kelley wishes could be here to celebrate. Two days before Londyn was born, her husband Jason, died unexpectedly from a rare form of lymphoma.
Kelley says Jason noticed a lump on his neck, and after a month it didn't go away. When he went to the doctor, Kelley says they ordered a biopsy, and that's when they heard the bad news.
"I was about seven months pregnant. He found out about six weeks before he passed, so it was very quick. I didn't have time to process that he had cancer, and then very quickly it was a blink of an eye and my whole world changed," she said.
Kelley says doctors even told Jason he would live, but his immune system weakened, which she says led to his death on September 27th of last year. She says this triumphant experience couldn't have come at a better time.
"It's just a bright spot in the midst of the storm, that's the best way I can explain it," she said.
There were a total of six milestone winners for this competition. Londyn is the only baby on the Eastern Shore that won.
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