6-year-old Addie is a girly girl who loves makeup, dolls and her animals. She also loves to paint, make crafts and play outside. She is very similar to children her age, except for a critical illness that has changed both her life and her family’s life.  

Four days after her fifth birthday, Addie woke up with a stomachache and her mom assumed she had caught a stomach bug. On and off for the next week, she continued to feel sick. Her mom brought her to the doctor and was sent home to wait the sickness out. A little over two weeks after Addie had started feeling sick, her dad was convinced she needed to go back to the doctor. A blood test showed that something was very wrong. Addie was placed in an ambulance and rushed to a larger hospital where they could run more in-depth tests to find out what was making her sick. Addie’s parents and doctor had an idea of what her condition may be, but final diagnosis did not come until the next day. Tests showed that Addie had leukemia.  

Doctors wasted no time in treating her critical illness. They immediately started with surgery where they placed a port, collected a bone marrow biopsy and did a lumbar puncture. After surgery, they quickly started chemo treatments. Rather than playing outside and going to school, her new routine became a series of chemo treatments, sickness and lumbar punctures followed by immunotherapy for 28 days.  

Over the past two and a half years, Addie has had seven hospital stays, two bone marrow biopsies and more chemo treatments than her mom can count. Though leukemia turned her world upside-down in some of the worst ways, there is something that kept her going through it all. During one of her treatments, Addie’s oncologist told her mom about Make-A-Wish and ultimately made the referral for her to have her wish granted.  After meeting with her volunteers and talking to her family, Addie decided that she wanted to meet and ride a real unicorn and that she wanted to make a party of it! 

Addie’s wish went above and beyond her expectations. She was outfitted with a unicorn princess dress and pulled up to her party in a pink limousine. She was greeted by all her closest family and friends as the limo driver held out his hand to help her out of the car, just like a real princess.  

There was a bounce house, face painter, snow cones, mini donuts, a food truck and unicorn cake. She was greeted by beautiful princesses and to her astonishment, there was a real unicorn at her party! A white horse with painted and braided hair wearing a unicorn horn stood in the background, ready to give rides to her and her friends.  Her wish had come true! 

After a fun-filled day with family and friends, Addie, her family and close friends were whisked away in the pink limo and taken to a hotel where another unicorn was waiting for her! She fed her new unicorn friend and took photos with the it before saying goodbye. Then, she and her friends spent the rest of the day swimming at the Mitchell Outdoor Aquatic Center and spent the night at the Comfort Inn & Suites.  

Addie’s wish day was very emotional for her parents. Wish mom Sara said, “Addie’s wish gave us hope. It’s a day where we didn’t think about her being sick.” 

Addie is now considered to be in remission and continuing regular treatment. We’d like to thank Adopt-A-Wish partner Midwest Class Racers, business partners Helping With Horsepower, Reclamation-Ranch, EverAfter-Entertainment, Hungry Dog Food Truck, Chesterman Co. Coca Cola, TNT’s Inflatables, AlphaGraphics in Sioux Falls, Nete Creations, Mitchell Parks and Recreation, Rockin’ RV Photography and volunteers Kendra and Linda for playing a part in Addie’s wish.