Local Child's Wish Comes True

Broeden "Brody" is a normal, athletic and shy 9 year old who had his world turned upside down last summer. During baseball season, his parents noticed him looking at the pitcher out of the corner of his eyes when he was at bat. Brody told his parents he was having double vision, and after a trip to the eye doctor and an MRI scan, he was diagnosed with DIPG, an inoperable malignant brain tumor. He soon headed for St. Jude Hospital and started 6 weeks of radiation and ongoing chemotherapy treatments.

The Make-A-Wish Foundation grants wishes to children like Brody, who have life-threatening medical conditions. Brody met Volunteer Wish Granters Mary Hiler and Sue Stephens when he finished his radiation treatments last summer and returned from St. Jude. They went to the home and Brody's #1 wish was determined as a vacation on a ship. After Brody's wish was approved, Brody started counting down the days in "sleeps." For example, "Hey Dad, 12 more sleeps until we leave!" He went on the internet looking at pictures of the boat, floor plans and activities. His parents said, "To say that he was excited is an understatement!"

Brody told his Wish Granters that one of his favorite foods was ice cream. The local Dairy Queen was contacted to see if they would like to be a part of Brody's wish. The owner, Scott Coleman, was delighted for the opportunity and to be a part of Make-A-Wish endeavors. On February 9th, a day filled with sleet and snow, a Bon Voyage party was thrown by Make-A-Wish and Dairy Queen at the Hwy 55 location. Coleman and his son Matt, manager of the Dairy Queen, generously donated their party room which Brody's Wish Granter's decorated and prepared for the party. DQ also donated kids meals for Brody, his sister Hannah, brother Jack, and nine of Brody's buddies. After their meal everyone enjoyed Brody's custom decorated ice cream cake. The cold and icy weather made a great send off for the family to appreciate being headed to tropical islands.

On Feb 12th, the family headed to St Louis to spend the night for an early Sunday morning flight to Florida. That evening Dave & Buster's in St Louis provided the family entertainment which the family described as "super-fantastic video game overload for our entire family, including an extremely unbelievable amount of food".

The cruise was provided through the Royal Caribbean Cruiseline's "Wishes At Sea" program. The cruise line provided VIP treatment for the entire family. The wish cruise, aboard Royal Caribbean's Freedom of the Seas, departed Sunday, February 13, from the Port of Cape Canaveral for a seven-night excursion through the eastern Caribbean, with stops in Coco Cay, St. Thomas, and St. Maarten. Brody described his most memorable moment as when he saw the ship at the port and how big it was. His favorite island was Coco Cay, the ship's private Bahamas island. While there they enjoyed the floating trampoline and saw a shark. Brody and his brother, Jack, enjoyed spending $200 worth of video game tokens on the ship in less than 24 hours, also courtesy of Royal Caribbean.

The family was invited to be the guests at the Captain's table. While on the ship Brody helped make a wish come true for his father. His father had always wanted to see the ship's bridge. The Captain invited the family not only to see the ship's Bridge, but also allowed Brody to sit in his chair where he steers the ship. Also while on the ship, Brody and his family participated in a one-mile Walk For Wishes® . Royal Caribbean Cruises is a national sponsor for the Make-A-Wish Foundation and generates additional funds by inviting passengers to participate in the walk on its ships. The family also took "Brody's Bunch" t-shirts and armbands to give to people they met during the cruise.

Local individual and businesses like Dairy Queen provide the Make-A-Wish Foundation with invaluable support in granting children's wishes. If you would like to be a part of making a wish come true or nominating an eligible child please contact mo.wish.org <http://mo.wish.org> <http://mo.wish.org> and discover how you can share the power of a wish® . Nationally, the Make-A-Wish Foundation is now the largest wish-granting charity in the world, with 64 chapters in the USA, as well as affiliated offices around the world. With the help of generous donors and nearly 25,000 volunteers, the Make-A-Wish Foundation grants a wish every 40 minutes and has granted more than 208,000 wishes since its inception.

A final comment from Brody's family summed up their experience. "We feel very fortunate to have been afforded this opportunity. If it were not for the extreme generosity of both donations to the Make-A-Wish Foundation as well as the Corporate/Merchant sponsorship, many kids like Brody may not get a life time wish."