A Wish to Skate with the Seattle Kraken
Jackson was sitting next to his twin brother at dinner one brisk fall evening in November. Side by side, they looked so starkly different – one full of energy and color, the other lethargic and pale. That’s when Everett and Carrie, Jackson’s parents, agreed they needed to take him to see their pediatrician.
The next day, they got an appointment and Jackson got a blood draw.
With one word, their whole world came crashing down: cancer.
“It’s cancer until proven otherwise,” said Jackson’s pediatrician. The results from Jackson’s blood draw came back – his white blood cell count was off the charts and his red blood cell counts were dangerously low.
“Seattle Children’s is waiting for you,” said their pediatrician. “You need to go now.”
When they arrived, Jackson needed a blood transfusion, and he started chemotherapy.
During the darkest time in their lives, one call illuminated a light of hope for Jackson and his family.
The phone rang and a friendly Make-A-Wish Alaska and Washington wish-granting volunteer was on the other end. Jackson was given the opportunity to dream. After thinking about it for a few days, an idea sparked. He loved roller blading and playing hockey with his brothers. Their family had just started getting into the sport, and the Seattle Kraken was a budding dream slowly coming to life in the Seattle sports scene.
“I want to skate with the Kraken,” said Jackson.
And so, that was his wish.
“It was something we knew we couldn’t do for him, but Make-A-Wish could,” said Everett, Jackson’s dad. “We called our volunteers the next day.”
As Jackson went through cancer treatment at Seattle Children’s, he thought about his wish. It gave him strength and hope for brighter days outside the walls of the hospital. During treatment, he lost his ability to walk. He was determined to get back on his feet – and his wish fueled him.
When he got home from the hospital, his mother carried him. Slowly, he began taking steps. Then stairs – one by one. He was going to walk again. He was going to skate again.
“The best day ever,” is how Jackson described his wish. Beaming with excitement and joy, he was smiling ear-to-ear when he was surprised with a visit to the Kraken Community Iceplex where the team was practicing. When he arrived, he ate breakfast, met Kraken staff, toured the facility, and then he was outfitted in his very own goalie gear and got to take to the ice with his favorite players, including Philipp Grubauer.
When the day was wrapping up, he looked up at one of the players in the locker room and said, “pinch me. I want to make sure I’m not dreaming.”
The next day, Jackson’s wish continued at a Kraken game.
“They went above and beyond,” Everett said.
From his entrance in a new stylish suit to signing a contract with the team to wearing Davy Jones’ hat after their big win against the Vancouver Canucks – it was a day he won’t forget.
“This wish is a wish that will continue to give and give...”
...said his dad, Everett. “Thank you, thank you, thank you… there really aren’t words to express how thankful we are to you, your amazing team, and all the incredible people with the Kraken. I know as Jackson gets older, he will gain even more of an appreciation for the amount of love and care that went in to granting his wish.”
“It’s really tempting to think cancer has robbed us,” Carrie said. “That’s not true though. Cancer is part of our story. It’s not the story we would have chosen, but there’s a lot of really beautiful things that have come out of cancer.”
Thank you, Seattle Kraken, for helping to make Jackson’s wish come true and Jackson’s wish-granting volunteers Sonja Korum-Campbell and Julia Tufts.