‘Power of a wish’: Make-A-Wish marks 40th year
Courtesy of Make-A-Wish
Thomasina “Tommie” DeSantis enjoying her Make-A-Wish trip to Park City, Utah.
Courtesy of Bevin DeSantis
Part of Tommie’s wish was to go dog-sledding.
Courtesy of Bevin DeSantis
On the Make-A-Wish trip to Park City, Utah, were, from left, Tommie DeSantis, her mother, Bevin, father, Dan, and brother, Luca.
Courtesy of Bevin DeSantis
The DeSantis family of Upper St. Clair, from left, Nico, who is being held by his father, Dan, Tommie, Bevin and Luca
Courtesy of Bevin DeSantis
Tommie shows off her toughness during one of her many treatments.
For the past 40 years, Make-A-Wish has been making dreams come true for children like Thomasina “Tommie” DeSantis of Upper St. Clair, who was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer.
“We create life-changing wishes for kids with critical illnesses,” said Dana Antkowiak, Make-A-Wish senior manager of marketing and communications. “We really believe these wishes are in fact life-changing. They help these kids replace fear with confidence, sadness with hope.”
Earlier this year, Tommie and her family traveled to Park City, Utah, for skiing and dog sledding, after the 9-year-old endured three years of treatments for neuroblastoma. She was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer at the age of 2.
“It was considered to be high risk because of her age, which means there’s a high risk of it coming back,” said her mother, Bevin.
Tommie’s treatment included two major surgeries, 10 rounds of chemotherapy, 14 rounds of radiation, 15 rounds of immunotherapy and a year-long vaccine trial, or, as Tommie put it, “a lot of nasty stuff.”
The origins of Tommie’s Make-a-Wish trip stemmed from the family’s love of skiing and Tommie’s love of the movie, “Balto,” an animated film about a wolf-dog hybrid that helped save children with diphtheria by leading a sled team.
“I wanted to go dog-sledding and skiing,” Tommie said. “We decided to go someplace cold. It was really exciting for me. Whenever we were doing our last day, I felt really sad because I didn’t want to leave.”
Bevin said the trip was a wish for the family since it is something her husband, Dan, and son, Luca, 7, enjoy as well.
“It was her wish, but (Luca) went through all of that, too,” she said. “We felt like it was the perfect trip for her, but also for him.” The family also includes son, Nico, 2.
Antkowiak said the theme for the chapter’s 40th anniversary is that there are many wish children who have overcome so much and are living productive adult lives.
“We really believe that’s a testament to the power of a wish,” she said.
Make-A-Wish Greater Pennsylvania and West Virginia – covering 57 counties in western, central and northeaster Pennsylvania and all of West Virginia – has granted more than 20,500 wishes since its inception on May 5, 1983. Those wishes started with Bryan, a 7-year-old with cancer who wanted to visit his favorite uncle in Texas for one of his favorite piggy-back rides.
Antkowiak said trips to Walt Disney World Resort are the most popular wish request and continue through generous donations.
“We never had to turn a child away due to a lack of funds,” she said. “Every child that is medically eligible for a wish gets a wish.”
Bevin was appreciative of the efforts of Make-A-Wish.
“Everyone we worked with was phenomenal,” she said. “(Tommie’s) early choices were not doable so we had to get creative. They knocked it out of the park. It was awesome.”
Tommie is doing well and is active, participating in competitive dance with Pittsburgh Pride, riding horses and looking forward to entering fourth grade at Eisenhower Elementary School. Her latest scans were clean, and she has been moved from oncology to the long-term followup team, a big step in her recovery.
“She’s busy, making up for a lot of lost time,” her mom said. “We are three years of no disease and a little over a year out from no treatment. She’s as tough as nails. She was one of the first 4-year-olds they’d ever seen do an MRI without sedation like it was nothing. She’s very, very strong and very determined, and I think that has a lot to do with how she is doing and where we are today.”
The community is invited to honor past and future wishes with a donation of $40 to celebrate 40 years of wish-granting at wish.org/greaterpawv/40yearsofwishes.
The local chapter is seeking volunteers who work in teams of two and interview the kids concerning their wish requests. Interested parties may call 412-471-9474.