A Wild Safari Wish - Olivia's Story

As Make-A-Wish Mid-Atlantic celebrates the chapter’s 40^th anniversary, we’re looking back on alumni stories that had an extra-special impact on our wish kids and families. Olivia’s wish was granted in 2018.

For wish alum Olivia, each day is a gift from the heart.

When she was just six months old, Olivia’s medical journey began with a diagnosis of an enlarged heart. Many of her first holidays were spent away from her Silver Spring, MD home and in the hospital. After four months at Children’s National Hospital, and being on life support, she was finally discharged before her first birthday. Later that fall, she received a heart transplant from a two-year-old donor.

Olivia’s earliest memories contain some difficult moments, but there is one thing that always lifted her spirits - elephants.

“They’ve always been my favorite animals and I’ve always been drawn to them; they’re big but soft creatures,” Olivia said. Due to the animal dander at the circus, Olivia was never able to attend one of the shows while in treatment. Instead, her mom would take her to the Smithsonian's National Zoo. “We would sit on the bench and watch the elephants for hours and hours,” she said.

“Every year for Halloween, she wanted to be an elephant. I swear we must have used the same costume three or four years in a row,” her mom, Schonay, said. “When we were told that she qualified for a wish, I was like, she doesn't need a wish. She was really little at the time and really, really sick. I tell her now, there were days we didn't know she was going to live until lunch. The wish process was probably the furthest thing from my mind at the time, so we didn’t talk about it at all. It was hard and scary and what she needed was a strong heart.”

Once Olivia regained her strength post-transplant, “I could take the next step,” Schonay said. “As a mom, you say, she has really beaten the odds. Olivia had a cardiac appointment and I heard her and the doctor just giggling in the room. So, when they came out, I was like, well, you were supposed to be doing the EKG; what was so funny? Doctor Sheila had just come back from safari, and Olivia says, ‘mommy, doctor Sheila saw the elephants where they live. I want to go see the elephants where they live.’”

When her Make-A-Wish Mid-Atlantic wish granters talked to Olivia about her wish, her choice came very easily to her – she wished to go on a safari in South Africa.

Olivia was surprised with the news that her wish was being granted at middle school graduation. “I was so shocked,” Olivia said. “When they started to do the presentation on the big screen, I was like, oh, who is this about? And then it was me! Everyone, all my classmates and the audience, was so supportive. I was just speechless the whole time. I was so excited. I think I packed days in advance!”

Describing her wish trip as “fantastic” and “above and beyond” her expectations, Olivia and her family were able to spend some much-needed quality time to bond. “For us, the wish was such a phenomenal experience that made us closer and brought us back together,” Schonay said. “It was really nice to have some time as a family that was not spent in a hospital or a procedure room, that was not spent worrying about what the results are going to be. We could just be together and laugh and didn’t have to leave anybody out. For our family, that piece of it was very special, because it was so not the norm.”

When the family wasn’t busy exploring South African culture, cuisine and museums, their time was packed full of animal encounters. Each day, Olivia and her family piled into a Jeep at 6 a.m. and 4 p.m. for two 3-hour safari experiences, wearing their custom-made ‘Olivia’s Elephant Adventure’ t-shirts. Ready with blankets (and Olivia’s much appreciated personal touch – hot chocolate), the tour guides drove them through the chilly savanna to get up close and personal with the wildlife, such as giraffes, zebras, hippos, lions and more.

When the moment finally came for Olivia to meet an elephant, “I was actually nervous, because I knew they were big, but I didn't realize how massive they were until I was next to them,” Olivia said.

“When that first elephant came up, I didn't watch the elephant; I watched Olivia’s face,” Schonay said. “She lit up. I don't even have the words. I was just really overcome with joy, just to see her in that moment. She was not afraid; she was in awe. I don't think I will ever forget the beauty of that moment and seeing her wish come true, for her just to come alive. It was energizing and transformative. It was magical, and something we will hold onto forever and ever.”

Olivia’s tie for best moment of her wish trip was with two elephant experiences. “The first was when the tour guide drove us up to some elephants eating tree leaves. We just stopped the car and watched them for 15 or 20 minutes, and that was amazing because they walked up really close to us. My other favorite moment was when we went to the elephant sanctuary. I got to feed them and walk with them! I think I spent three hours there. When I pet them, they were paying no mind to me; they were more focused on eating! This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and I’m incredibly grateful for this wish,” Olivia said.

“The wish was the cherry on top of a really, really long journey,” Schonay said. “It was just the culmination of so many doctors’ appointments, procedures and stressful nights wondering what was going to happen. To get that wish on top of that, said yes, it did work. Yes, it did happen. Yes, she is going to live. Yes, she is going to thrive.”

September 2022 marked 17 years since Olivia’s heart transplant. Now a high school graduate, Olivia will be starting college in the fall as an art history major. While she will still have to keep up with her routine hospital checkups every 90 days, her mom says all these years later, her wish continues to give her the courage to face the future. “Olivia can always think back and say, ‘if I walked an elephant around, I can do this next procedure. It really did give her a sense of, ‘no matter what comes my way, I can take the next step’.”