A wish lets the magic begin...
On his third birthday, Liam received the worst possible birthday present: a diagnosis of leukemia during his routine checkup. With a four-month-old baby in her arms and constantly on her mind, Liam’ s mother, Katey, could never have imagined that her beautiful and easy-going little boy could be so sick.
Reeling from the news of Liam’ s diagnosis, the family, with no prior medical experience, leaned heavily on their extended family, friends and medical team to navigate the intense battle Liam would face in the coming years.
“ He is so brave, and he takes everything so well,” Katey said. He even began to find the joy in his routine of going to the hospital and playing in its playroom, full of toys and books that could keep any child in a constant state of wonder.
Still, this family needed hope and unity after so many months of separation. Once Liam was well enough to consider a wish, the family referred him to Make-A-Wish. Liam loves every Disney character, especially the princesses Anna and Elsa, so he knew he wanted to go to Walt Disney World ® Resort and witness the magic of Disney up close.
The family’ s week in Florida was a dream. Liam had entered the maintenance stage of treatment before leaving, allowing them to fully embrace all that the Disney Parks had to offer. Not only that, but mom, dad, sister and brother were finally able to find the unity and sense of peace that wasn’ t possible before.
“ It was just really nice to get that full week together where we got to fully just be together and everything was kind of taken care of for us,” Katey said.“ We just got to be a normal family together.”
Riding the roller coasters, meeting the characters and enjoying the Give Kids the World village made for the perfect vacation, but it was at the nighttime fireworks show that the importance of the trip finally set in, bringing Liam’ s mother and father to tears.
“[ That moment ] made us think a lot about why we were there and what got us to that point and everything that we all went through to get there. It was so emotional and so amazing.”
-Katey, wish mom
Invigorated and inspired by Liam’ s wish, this family is ready to charge forward as Liam looks toward complete healing and a hopeful future.