“It’s a very severe disease that very much impacts every part of their body, and it will only get worse and worse,” says the boys’ father, Mike. “Their joints become stiffer and stiffer and their internal organs get enlarged. In the brain, it affected their development from early on.”

Living with a progressive degenerative illness is a tough journey for the child. Arguably, it’s even harder for the parents. For Mike and Muhua’s mother, Pei, two things brought hope—the power of a wish and a promising clinical trial.

The family first learned about Make-A-Wish back in 2013, when a friend, captivated by an inspiring story about Miles’ wish to be Batkid, prompted them to learn more. “She mentioned to us that this organization that can do this for kids, and I think your boys would hopefully get some needs met there,” explains Mike.

At first, they hesitated. The developmental delays that the boys live with can make it difficult to understand their true desires. “Their communication is really lagging behind,” explains Mike. “It’s hard to know what their real wishes are.”

As time went on, the idea of a wish was often on their minds. Could it be something to help bring some happiness into the challenging routines of treatment? Could they feel confident in getting to the heart of the right wishes for both their boys?

“They have their own personalities,” says Mike. “We got to know their hidden desires, if you will.” For Mudong, his wish came true in 2016, with an amazing trip to Disneyland to visit his favorite characters.

“His favorite show has always been Winnie the Pooh, so we saw for him that he would be super happy to live in the Hundred Acre Woods, even for a day,” explains Mike. “He truly was very happy there in Pooh Corner on that day.”

For Muhua, hitting on the heart of his wish proved more difficult. An adventurous, daring little boy, Muhua is obsessed with Curious George. Mike and Pei wanted to realize his dream of swinging around in his own jungle, but his condition made that challenging to bring to life.

Some of the more obvious ideas—visiting a jungle or going on a hike in nature—would be impossible due to Muhua’s joint problems. The family, along with their wish team, had to do some hard thinking.

“For both Mudong and Muhua, the biggest problem physically is their joints,” says Mike. “Daily exercise really helps them to flex their joints and keep their mobility, keep their range of motion.” That’s how it clicked: The ideal wish for Muhua would be an indoor jungle that doubled as an occupational therapy room. “Combining the play with the therapy—that’s where this whole wish finally took shape,” says Mike.

Wish planner Jordan Farwell had the opportunity to bring Muhua’s unique wish to life. “I began by researching different organizations that provide sensory play services for children and reaching out to physical therapy facilities and other medical professionals to get industry insight,” she says of her approach.

When she discovered FunFactory Sensory Gym, a company that manufactures custom sensory gyms and equipment, she knew it was going to be the right fit. The gyms they create offer an educational, challenging, and stimulating environment for children with chronic illnesses, who can benefit from positive play in a therapeutic environment.

The company is passionate about spreading their impact to children across the United States—they put 10 percent of proceeds into a fund that aids families in need. The team generously discounted Muhua’s gym, and founders Troy and Rebecca Dean also made a personal donation to Make-A-Wish.

Together, the Make-A-Wish and FunFactory teams created a gym concept tailored to the family’s space and Muhua’s needs. Then they got to work installing the perfect play space for Muhua.

When Muhua’s wish was revealed, it was easy to see that it hit the mark. “The smile on his face, the excitement of his brother showing him how to use the gym, and how his dad was excited to help Muhua play—that’s the kind of moment that fuels our installers to keep going,” says Rebecca Dean.

“It was great to finally see it come true and seeing his happy smiles,” says Mike. “That was priceless.” In addition to providing a safe place to play, the new gym encourages activities that will help Muhua and Mudong keep their joints flexible, vastly improving their quality of life.

In the months since Muhua’s wish came true, the gym has been a joy for Muhua. “He really enjoys it and uses it every day,” says Muhua’s dad, Mike. “The exercise is going to get him the confidence that he needs, and it certainly bodes well for his long-term physical health.”

Thanks to the incredible, empowering, and transformative wishes for his two boys, Mike has become an advocate for Make-A-Wish within the progressive degenerative disease community. He says that although it might be hard at first to imagine the impact, the wish is worth the effort.

“A lot of the typical wishes you see are for kids with leukemia or some form of pediatric cancer,” he explains. “For those kids, they have typical development—they understand things, they can see their personal wish come true and get excited and satisfied, and all those great things.”

But because Mudong and Muhua couldn’t immediately understand the concept of a wish, Mike and Pei didn’t know if a wish was for them. Eventually, they turned that corner, and they’re so grateful they did.

“We understand them best; we know what they truly want,” Mike says. “Therefore, even though they are not the ones verbally making the wish, if we can make something happen for them, it is worthwhile.”

After seeing Mudong’s huge smiles on their trip to Disneyland, and now seeing Muhua’s wish bring joy and hope for the future, they know that wishes make a difference for all children. “For developmentally delayed kids, who have a more limited understanding of the world, something positive that happens in their life is going to have a huge impact,” Mike says.

Bringing a wish to life for a child with developmental delays requires insight and ingenuity from all parties—the parents, wish planners, medical professionals, and sometimes outside experts like FunFactory. But according to Mike, it’s so worth the added effort. “In our community, where there are a lot of rare diseases, parents are so bogged down by the day-to-day burdens of dealing with a disease,” he says. “Having hope injected into our lives is crucial.”

Thankfully, for Muhua and Mudong, more hope is on the horizon—they’ve recently started a new clinical trial that may slow down or even stop the progression of their disease. If successful, the treatment will allow the boys to keep as much capability as possible into the future.

“Trials are a burden to families, but they also come with hope,” says Mike. “I think that’s what families like ours really need—to always look forward to what lies ahead.”

Muhua's wish was adopted by a generous donor through our Adopt-A-Wish program, which offers the opportunity to invest in a wish experience, altering the course of a child's life, forever. Thank you, Clint Love and all the members of The Bay Area Cremation Society, for helping make wishes like Muhua's come true!