MAKE-A-WISH
“Make-A-Wish was amazing,” said Jilian. “Being a single parent, I thought it would be a challenge. They put my mind at ease.” Make-A-Wish was founded in 1980 when U.S. Customs Officer Tommy Austin decided to pull a few strings for 7-year-old James Greicius, who was being treated for leukemia. Austin knew Greicius wanted to be a police officer, so he was able to arrange a kid-sized uniform, a ride in a police helicopter and a swearing-in as an honorary police officer. Since then, thousands of sick and terminally ill children have been granted wishes, lifting spirits and unburdening these young souls from the cruel weight of their disease, if only for a little while. The South Carolina chapter formed in 1984, and has granted more than 2,000 wishes since then, including several in the Lowcountry. “No child is ever denied a wish,” said Cindy Wood with Make-A-Wish Beaufort County. “Disney is always popular, but we had one child that wanted to go see the
Monarch butterflies in Mexico. One child in Bluffton wanted to meet Eli Manning.” There’s no denying the effect this wishfulfillment can have, especially to a child who has been through the gut-wrenching hardship of a diagnosis. Take Nicholas Abrams, who was diagnosed in February 2012 with T-cell ALL. Despite the news, young Nicholas showed immense strength throughout his ordeal. “When the doctors told us, he looked at the doctor and said, ‘I want to start treatment now.’ He didn’t want to wait,” said Nicholas’ mother, Becky Abrams. “He was gung ho. He’s done this whole thing with a smile on his face.” Nicholas, a die-hard Star Wars fan, stayed at the Give Kids the World resort as well, taking in the full exhilaration of the theme park experience, including front-row seats to an epic recreation of the light-saber duel between Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader and no less than four trips on the Toy Story ride.
“It was nice to forget about things for a little while,” said Becky. Another local child making the trip to Orlando is Leo Vannoni. Originally planned for this past September, Leo’s trip was postponed due to complications with his treatment. Leo was first diagnosed in August 2012, and suffered through a full round of chemo before being told he needed a bone marrow transplant. A donation from his sister and a “chemo bomb” followed, setting Leo on the path to recovery. But that path, as any survivor will tell you, is as long as it is winding. “He was doing great, and responding really well to treatment,” said Leo’s mother, Kelly. “There were no complications until June of this year when he came down with a virus. For anyone else it’s fine, for him it was devastating.” With his trip postponed, the community rallied around Leo. Students at Bluffton Middle School came up with a competition to raise funds for Leo’s wish.
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