A Trip Full Of Surprises 

Jessa battled cancer for years. She was diagnosed in 2020, and spent a great deal of 2021 in the hospital for planned surgeries and unplanned emergencies. In all, she spent over 100 days in the hospital and had 61 chemotherapy infusions and 21 spinal taps. In 2023, she finished her treatment and rang the bell, signaling that she is cancer free. 

During her treatment, Jessa wished to go to Disney World, and she knew that one day her wish was coming true. However, Jessa’s mom, Laura, decided to keep the date a secret. She wanted to surprise Jessa. The day of the wish, Jessa, Laura, Jessa’s grandma and Jessa’s cousin all went to the airport. Wish mom Laura said she was going away for one day and that grandma was going to watch Jessa. 

At the airport, mom revealed the ruse and told Jessa that she was actually going to Disney World today and that her grandmother and her cousin were coming with them. Laura handed Jessa and her cousin tickets. Jessa clutched her ticket and jumped up and down, squealing with excitement. Mom produced two sets of pink Mickey Mouse ears from her suitcase and gave them to the girls. Make-A-Wish® Idaho volunteers were nearby and revealed colorful signs, adding to the surprise and the fanfare. 

Jessa had a blast at Disney World where she was able to meet her favorite Disney princess Rapunzel. She watched the big parade on Main Street U.S.A. and rode on the Slinky Dog roller coaster, a favorite of Idaho wish kids. She said her favorite ride on them all was Avatar.

Although her wish trip to Disney World had come to and end, the  surprises had not. On her flight back to Boise, a Southwest crew member asked Jessa to come to front of the plane. The crew member introduced Jessa to all the other passengers and explained that she was coming home from her wish trip to Disney World and that Jessa "had just beaten cancer and was now cancer-free."

For those of you who don't know, it's very common practice for wish kids to receive special treatment on flights. That's why you see so many photographs of wish kids with the pilots or getting to sit in the cockpits of planes. It's also not uncommon for a crew member or a pilot to announce that a wish kid is on board. However, in this instance, Jessa's mom recorded the announcement and put it on Tik Tok. 

The video went viral, getting over a half a million views in just a few days and racking up over 400,000 likes. Folks commented on video, saying that it drove them to tears of joy and hundreds wrote messages of support for Jessa. From there, the national media picked up the story. Jessa's video appeared on Upworthy, Insider and it was even on the Today Show. Locally, Jessa was recently named 7's Hero for the week. 

"It was just an incredible experience, just having that many people, that many strangers, love your child in that moment. They were so proud of her and wanted the best for her," Jessa's mom Laura said in an interview with Boise's own Maggie O'Mara of KTVB. "It's a memory that we will always remember, and we will never forget the flight crew and the passengers that were on that flight that day. It was just the perfect way to end Jessa's journey and to end her whole trip."