I wish to have a trailer for show pigs
Quiana
15
cancer
Have pig, will travel
For many years, Quiana has been an avid member of her local 4-H club, and every year, she shows animals at her local county fair. While in the hospital facing chemotherapy, Quiana was visited by a cousin, who mentioned that she was heading to a livestock show in Arizona later that year and asked if she’d like to join.
Inspired, Quiana hopped on her computer, purchased two show pigs in an online auction, and got to work on getting them ready to show. “It seemed to spark a little joy in her,” says her mom, Ellen. “It got her outside and it got her doing something because she had a goal to work towards.”
That motivation helped lift Quiana’s spirits and caring for the pigs helped her to build back her strength. And, as it turns out, Quiana is quite talented! “She went from showing at her county fair to showing at this big-time national show—and she ended up doing really well,” says Ellen.
Quiana lives in a small, tight-knit community in Siskiyou County. It’s a place where everyone knows everyone, and neighbors go out of their way to help one another out. As it turns out, Quiana’s wish granter Natalie is a wish mom herself—her son Miles had his wish to be Batkid come true in 2016.
Since living through Miles’ incredible journey, Natalie has felt inspired to pay it forward in her community. “After witnessing my son's wish and how it brought so many people in our country together, I knew that I wanted to become a volunteer,” she explains. “The power of a wish is literally unreal.”
When she sat down to speak with Quiana, Natalie learned about the teen’s interest in showing pigs. “It was quite obvious that she is very passionate and takes great pride in her animals,” says Natalie. The conversation helped Quiana decide on her wish—she wanted a spacious trailer for her pigs so they could travel to shows in comfort and style.
The trailer, which has individual pens for up to six show pigs, will make it much easier to get the animals from show to show. Since she will no longer have to share trailers with her family, Quiana won’t have to reload her equipment every time she wants to head out on the road.
“It’s going to make things a bit easier for her to have more experiences for showing,” Ellen explains.
Wish made, Quiana began counting down the days until it came true. She was signed up for a local competition just a few days after Christmas, and had her fingers crossed that her pig trailer would arrive in time to make its big debut. “By November she was on high alert and would ask regularly,” says Ellen.
Meanwhile, program staff at the Make-A-Wish Greater Bay Area office were on the hunt for the perfect trailer for Quiana and her pigs. It was proving to be a difficult task, until they connected with the owners of Supreme Trailer Sales, a family-run Oklahoma-based retailer that was able to provide a trailer to Quiana’s exact specifications.
The McClain family from Supreme Trailer Sales went far above and beyond to make sure that Quiana received her gift in time for the big show, producing the trailer and driving it across state lines in just a matter of days. “I think it was manufactured on December 20, and it arrived by December 23,” says Ellen. “They did a pretty amazing job.”
On December 23, wish granter Natalie, joined by a small group of community members and Quiana’s closest friends, gathered outside the local feed store. Quiana thought she and her family were headed there for a regular shopping trip, and had no idea what awaited! As they left the store, a big white truck pulled up and the driver honked his horn. Behind the truck was Quiana’s new trailer, with a sign that read ‘A Wish Worth Waiting For.’ “Quiana was extremely surprised!” says Natalie. “Her eyes beamed. She looked so happy.”
“We definitely pulled off the surprise,” adds Ellen, “and she didn’t expect her friends to be there, so that was an added bonus.”
For Natalie, it was an honor to witness Quiana’s hard-earned wish come to life. “Being a teenager and going through those challenges can be difficult—I can’t even image throwing cancer in the mix and later a pandemic,” she explains. “She fought through her treatments so she could get home and care for her animals.”
New trailer in tow, Quiana competed in four showings at the December show and has high hopes to attend more in the coming year, if COVID-19 restrictions allow. Although she still faces some tough side effects from her treatment, overall Quiana is doing very well.
Ellen says that for kids like Quiana, wishes are a well-deserved reward for getting through months of painful treatments. “The work that they have to do, physically and mentally, to get through those treatments—I don’t even think we even understand it completely. They’ve earned every piece of that wish.”
Ellen hopes that by sharing her story, Quiana can inspire other families facing a critical illness not to give up hope, even when treatment gets hard.
“Every one of those miserable days has been worth the last year that she’s had where she’s felt so good,” she says. “I try to remind her that her story can be an encouragement to other kids that are going through treatment right now—that there is a light at the end of the tunnel.”
Fittingly, Quiana’s trailer arrived around the one-year anniversary of her final cancer treatment. With that chapter behind her, Quiana finally feels like she can look forward. “It closed that door, and she could look to the future with her wish,” Ellen says.
The wish came at the right time for Quiana’s hometown too. “This wish brought happiness to a community that has been sleepy for almost a year now,” says Natalie. “Folks around here love to help and support one another.”