When Vivan Keith’s parents found out their little girl had cancer, they were shocked. What they didn’t know was that while Vivian stayed weeks on end in the hospital, she would make some unlikely friends just by simply waving at them each morning out the window.

Two-year-old Vivian was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia and immediately began treatment at Barnes-Jewish Children’s Hospital in St. Louis. Because of Vivian’s illness, she was kept in strict isolation. Visitors to her room wore gowns, masks, and gloves, and her only connection to the outside world was a big window in her hospital room.

That window in her room is where Vivian would make new friends. The hospital was undergoing a huge addition that Vivian could watch from her room. Each morning she would hurry to the window so she could wave at the men working below her. Her mom says they had to wave until someone waved back.

The workers says that once they reached about the third floor of the construction project, they could see the children waving at them from their windows, but one little girl in particular caught their attention. They said it was Vivian who was there every single day, and so they planned a surprise for her.

One morning when Vivian went to the window to wave at the men, instead of waving back to her, they pointed at a big metal beam. On the beam was a message written just for her. It said, “Get Well Soon.”

Once Vivian’s illness had gotten to where she no longer needed to be in isolation, the workers reached out to the hospital in hopes of meeting the little girl that had caught their attention. Travis Barnes and Greg Combs had been working together on projects for many years, but this one was different. They wanted to meet the little girl that had made them look forward to every morning at work.

The men were finally able to meet Vivian and her family, and although Vivian was shy at the meeting, the men and her parents say they are grateful for the opportunity to meet face to face. Barnes said it touches you to meet a little girl like Vivian. He said seeing her made him realize how good of a life he really has.

While construction workers are known for being rough and tough, these guys have big hearts inside of them. They both know that no matter how tough they are, this little girl is tougher than they could ever imagine being.