A common misconception of Make-A-Wish is that it only grants wishes of children with terminal illnesses . That ’ s not the case at all . They focus on children with life threatening medical conditions of all kinds , and 80 percent of Make-Aucky Celebrates its Sixteen
transplant when she was just 6-months-old , but she was still facing complications . Her wish was to meet the princesses at Disney World .
“ Our chapter got really close to Katie and her family ,” Hyde recalled . “ She went to Disney , but while she was there , she got sick and spent four days in the hospital . We were all bummed about it , because we ’ d adopted that wish .”
Adopting a wish is when a person or persons sponsors a Make-A-Wish request . Adoptees raise the money and stay with the family throughout the process .
“ Make-A-Wish told us they were going to send Katie back to complete her wish because she didn ’ t get the experience . That was so great to send her back . Each wish is not just a check off a list . Make-A-Wish cares about making each experience special .”
As popular as Disney World is , it ’ s far from the only wish that Make-A-Wish turns into reality . There are several categories of wishes :
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I Wish to Go – Including trips to Disney , London , Hawaii , Australia and more . Six children from the Kentucky chapter visited the 2016 Olympics in Rio , Brazil . ȧȧ
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I Wish to Have – computers , puppies , birthday parties , an RV camper , etc .
I Wish to Meet – All manner of celebrities , wrestling stars , YouTube stars , the Flash , Elmo , Guy Fieri , Michael Jordan , etc . ȧȧ
I Wish to Be – police officers , firefighters and more .
The fifth and final category is a new one . “ I Wish to Give ” is for children who are selfless and wise beyond their years .
“ We had one kid who wanted to do a fundraiser for the heart center where they were receiving treatment . We had another , Natalia , who was 10 . She was cold all the time from chemotherapy making her weak . She told her wish volunteers that she wanted to warm people from the inside out . She said the only thing that made her warm was her mom ’ s soup . So , to fulfill her wish , we made soup for homeless shelters in the community and handed out blankets . We ended up making way too much and gave it to all sorts of shelters in the area ,” Hyde said .
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VITAL SIGNS Volume 12 • Issue 2 7