“This wish means a lot to me. It has boosted my self-esteem, confidence, and self-love. I’m so grateful that when I get my braces off I will have straight teeth for the rest of my life as long as I take care of them and believe me I will.

For my family I think this wish means a lot to them, especially financially. My brother and mom have always known I wanted braces, and before I got diagnosed that’s what we were looking into, but when everything happened clearly the idea was out the picture. They know how insecure I was about my teeth and promised me I would eventually get braces. But it wasn’t like they could just come up with the money with the snap of a finger. I probably wouldn’t even have braces right now if it weren’t for Make-A-Wish. My family could definitely say that my happiness and self-love has gone up since getting my braces so I know this wish means just as much if not more to them as it does to me. Because anything is better than me being in the hospital sick.

I would like to add that I think that Make-A-Wish is truly changing and impacting patients' lives in ways that they probably don’t even understand. Having the thought that your life is at risk for medical reasons and then to be granted one thing in your life is amazing. I would also like to add that before my medical journey I had started soccer, and I planned on going through with this sport until college. Although my medical journey has taken away so many experiences from me, it has granted me new ones and better ones. It has given me life lessons that you can’t teach anyone. It has given me an outlook on life that is indescribable. Going through this journey has really taught me that the saying of “Life is too short” and “Don’t take life for granted” are more true than people imagine. With this experience I hope to one day give back and become a nurse or doctor, and perhaps even be a speaker to people going through similar situations or just an inspirational speaker in general.

One more thing I would like to add is that the doctors had at one point told my family and I that I was going to die and had one week left to live, and that we should plan my funeral. That being said I would like anyone who is reading this to know that no one is God and they don’t know when you will be called home, so don’t let anyone ever tell you, you can’t do something because you can do whatever you set your mind to.”