Two years after Casey Shacklock completed treatment for a rare form of lymphoma, she was able to play princess dress-up at Disney World.Courtesy of family
When she was three, Casey Shacklock was diagnosed with a rare form of lymphoma. Instead of playing and exploring like most kids her age, Casey would spend the next 800 days enduring multiple surgeries and hospital stays, gruelling drug regimens and challenging side effects.
During those dark days, Casey’s parents lived in a constant state of fear, not knowing if the treatments would save their daughter’s life, says her mother, Krysta Shacklock.
They had no way of knowing that, two years after she completed treatment, they would watch, overcome with emotion, as their now-eight-year-old daughter got to play princess dress-up at Disney World with her favourite characters and get a big hug from Cinderella herself.
“I can’t believe I get to do this with her,” said Ms. Shacklock, who lives in Saskatoon, in a recent interview.
She said that for Casey, the week-long trip to Disney World last month was a dream come true, orchestrated by Make-A-Wish Canada, the organization famous for connecting children facing critical illnesses with once-in-a-lifetime experiences.
But the Shacklock family wasn’t alone on their trip to Orlando. In recognition of the organization’s 40th anniversary, Make-A-Wish Canada took 40 children and their families all at once. It was the most ambitious trip in its history, one that included special touches from the start.
During a week-long trip organized by Make-A-Wish Canada, Casey got to meet (and receive a big hug from) Cinderella.Courtesy of family
The families got to enjoy a limousine ride to the airport. The terminal itself was decorated with balloon arches, and a Star Wars stormtrooper greeted families at check-in, along with airport staff who helped everyone navigate the security line quickly.
Blue Cross provided travel insurance and created a special lounge for the Make-A-Wish families to use before the flight, featuring food, games and volunteers to help the children relax and have fun.
When it was time to board the plane, everyone headed down a walk of fame featuring the name of each Make-A-Wish child on the trip.
WestJet donated a chartered Mickey Mouse-themed plane, and all the pilots, crew and other staff, including the ground controller who helps the plane back up, were wearing Mickey ears.
Meaghan Stovel McKnight, the chief executive officer of Make-A-Wish Canada, recalled stepping off the plane in Orlando, ready to greet and take pictures of everyone as they disembarked. As the families, clad in their blue Make-A-Wish shirts, began to fill the airport, other passengers in the terminal burst into spontaneous applause.
“It was magical,” Ms. Stovel McKnight said. “People want these kids and families to be whole. They want to have the normalcy of childhood returned for them.”
Wendy Guerra and her ten-year-old daughter Elyanna, who had a double lung transplant as a newborn baby, near their home in Toronto, Ont. on Aug. 4. Elyanna spent five years on the Make-A-Wish waiting list until her wish was granted: “Just seeing her face, how bright it was, it was just amazing,” Ms. Guerra said.Tijana Martin/The Globe and Mail
During the week-long stay, the families were free to take their kids on rides without waiting in line and even got some spending money so they could grant wishes of their own, such as ice cream for breakfast or an overpriced souvenir.
“We were able to give our kids absolutely everything they desired in this trip,” Ms. Shacklock said.
For her family, the trip was a necessary reprieve from the trauma of the past few years and the challenges that still lie ahead.
“It makes you feel so happy. It’s so hard to describe,” Ms. Shacklock said. “I still don’t know if I’ve fully processed it and can comprehend.”
While Casey has successfully completed treatment, her doctors say the powerful drugs she had to take mean she has a 90-per-cent chance of facing another life-threatening problem in the next 30 years.
“It’s going to be a lifelong thing for us,” Ms. Shacklock said.
Wendy Guerra, who lives in Toronto, was also on the recent Make-A-Wish trip. Her 10-year-old daughter, Elyanna, underwent a double lung transplant as a newborn after being diagnosed with surfactant deficiency, a fatal genetic disease. A few years earlier, in 2009, Wendy and her husband realized they were carriers for the disorder after their first child, a daughter, was diagnosed with it and died shortly after birth. They had a healthy son in 2011, followed by Elyanna in 2013. By the time she was born, doctors had developed a way of performing a double lung transplant on newborns like her.
Elyanna was on the Make-A-Wish waiting list for five years, which coincided with the pandemic and a moratorium on travel. The family worried that her wish wouldn’t be granted and were so happy to hear about the group trip to Orlando.
Ms. Guerra said the trip was incredible, with organizers going out of their way to make Elyanna and all the other children feel special.
“Just seeing her face, how bright it was, it was just amazing,” Ms. Guerra said. “It was a blessing.”
While that trip was a success, Make-A-Wish Canada has much more work to do, said Ms. Stovel McKnight. There are about 4,000 children across the country currently waiting to have their wishes granted.
The past few years have been a challenge for the organization, given the moratorium on travel and inability to hold in-person fundraising events. Now that things are slowly rebounding, Ms. Stovel McKnight said Make-A-Wish hopes to grant more wishes and identify more eligible children from remote, rural and northern parts of the country.
“Every child deserves a wish,” she said.