I wish to have a tractor
Judah
18
thalassemia
Judah's Wish For The Future
On a sunny summer day in early July, a teenager named Judah experienced the surprise of a lifetime, during a celebration in his honor with over one hundred members of the community, including wish alumni and families, local company partners, and Make-A-Wish staff and volunteers.
His one true wish? To have a brand new, Kubota BX Series 4WD Sub-Compact Tractor. Judah’s wish was granted during a patriotic celebration around Independence Day, at the Samuel & Josephine Plumeri Wishing Place, the wish-granting castle and home of Make-A-Wish New Jersey.
Judah courageously battles thalassemia, a life-threatening genetic blood disorder. He lives on a farm where his future goals include cultivating the land, feeding the animals, growing his own vegetables, and preparing his own meals from start to finish. Judah’s tractor, a specific model he chose, is a brand-new Tractor-Loader-Backhoe. The major highlight of the model is its versatility, which will be ideal for the many different projects Judah intends to use it for – a true game-changer. He also is now able to keep up with his brothers, something he has struggled with his entire life.
Judah’s wish marked a significant and historic milestone for Make-A-Wish New Jersey. Along with Make-A-Wish New Jersey celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, this wish was the 12,000th wish granted since the chapter’s founding in 1983. The celebration at the Wishing Place engaged an entire community in a celebration filled with games, food trucks, ice cream, and of course, the impactful mission of Make-A-Wish.
Judah’s parents Jennie and Ron shared how happy they are to see him filled with hope for the first time in his life, and that Make-A-Wish is the reason for that new-found hope. Due to Judah’s life-threatening medical condition, his mother Jennie shared that Judah does not often talk about the future or think about what is to come.
It was the first time he’s said I’ll still be here in six months, or I’ll be here next year.
Jennie
Judah's mom
"You always want your children to have hope,” Judah’s dad Ron reflected. “We can want the best for our children, but unless they want that too – he is the one that has to put the effort into the hope, he’s the one that has to stay with it every day. To finally see him starting to step out of “the end” and into “what can be” thanks to Make-A-Wish is definitely a blessing."
