I wish to swim with a mermaid
Jayleen
7
tumor
Jayleen's Wish to Swim with a Mermaid
Despite suffering from a tumor as a little girl, seven-year-old Jayleen is super joyful and full of energy. She has an amazing imagination and was very excited to share her passion for mermaids with our wish team. She said she knows mermaids really exist and says she’s even seen a couple herself! Her wish is to swim with a real-life mermaid and to get to ask her all sorts of questions like where she sleeps, her favorite part of the ocean and if she has ever rescued a friend. One of her favorite books is “Secret History of Mermaids and Creatures of the Deep” and she loves to swim of course.
In partnership with Trailer Park Group, a leading entertainment marketing agency in Hollywood, Make-A-Wish Greater LA was able to grant this very special wish. In addition to covering all costs for the wish, Trailer Park utilized their creative resources to turn this wish into an exceptionally magical experience for Jayleen. They rented out a beautiful mansion that was turned into a hall of maritime curiosities and surprised Jayleen with a real-life mermaid swimming in the backyard pool. Jayleen got her own custom fin and mermaid lessons in the pool with mermaid Linden. She also got her own mermaid book designed by Trailer Park’s amazing art department in which she’s the featured mermaid. The best part for our team was seeing Jayleen ask Linden an endless list of questions about “mer-folk”. Have you met a pink dolphin? What do you eat in the sea? Have you ever met a human baby? This was followed by a sweet introduction to Jayleen’s new baby sister.
We checked in with Jayleen’s mom recently and she says Jayleen was super happy and wouldn’t stop talking about her wish for months. She even showed her teacher and friends her new mermaid book and all the exciting treasures she got. Jayleen’s Mom also shared that finding out about her diagnosis was incredibly hard so having the wish experience was so nice for the entire family. “We will always have it in our memories and it was a wonderful experience. It is a beautiful thing to do for children.”
↓ Check out Jayleen's wish video here! ↓
