A 12-year-old boy with a serious illness was awarded the Kids Wish Network Hero of the Month for October. The award was made possible by Kids Wish Network and Shriner’s Hospital for Children, Philadelphia.

Dustin suffers from a disease called Osteogenesis Imperfecta – also known as Brittle Bones. OI causes Dustin’s bones to be broken very easily and in his 12 years he has broken over 120 bones. Dustin’s father, Michael, said although it has been tough, Dustin is doing well.

“He just had his 20th surgery to have his spine fused. He is the only child in the world with titanium ribs,” Michael said. “He is doing good. It’s been a long road. He has had 20 surgeries since 2003.”

Kids Wish Network is a national children’s charity that has various programs including wish granting for children with life threatening illnesses and the Hero of the Month program. The Hero program recognizes children who do not have a life threatening illness, but have faced difficult circumstances and oftentimes endured a lot of pain. Kids Wish Network works with facilities across the country to nominate one child per facility each month.

Dustin is the October Hero for Shriner’s Hospital for Children, Philadelphia.

“I was excited when I heard about his nomination,” said Michael. “We are keeping it a surprise from Dustin until he gets his awards.”

Each Hero is given a t-shirt, a medal of honor, a certificate and a gift card to Wal-Mart or Target valued between $200 and $500 depending on the child’s age. Dustin will be given a $400 gift card to Wal-Mart.

Although Dustin could have been nominated based on his painful illness alone, there is something special about him that made the nurses and child life specialists at Shriner’s decide to choose him as their October Hero. When he is not at the hospital getting treated for a broken bone, Dustin is at home making small pillows to give to the other children at the hospital.

“When we were there for one of his surgeries they gave a pillow to prop his arm up with the IV. Dustin has learned to sew from my wife and they took the project upon themselves,” Michael said. “We’ve taken pillows three times and we took 107 this last time.”

The pillows are distributed by the nurses to the children who are admitted into the hospital. One of the nurses who works with Dustin, Mary Ann, helps give out his hand-made pillows.

“We try to give every child a stuffed toy or something and he started making them and recruited his family. They are like fleecy pillows and the children like them and we can use them for propping up an arm or making the child more comfortable,” she said.

Although Michael and his wife have not told their son about his nomination, Michael said that he knows Dustin will be excited.

“I think it’s great. It’s just a great program,” he said.

Kids Wish Network is a nationally recognized non-profit organization dedicated to infusing hope, creating happy memories, and improving the quality of life for children. Aside from granting wishes, Kids Wish Network also has several other programs which benefit children’s care facilities. If you know a child between the ages of 3 and 18 who may be in need of its wish granting services, please call 727-937-3600 or toll free 888-918-9004. For more information on Kids Wish Network, visit their website at www.kidswishnetwork.org

As a nation, we’re making it through a financially trying time, but I’m still so truly amazed by the giving nature of our sponsors. They continue to come through for all our wish kids here at Kids Wish Network. They dig deep and send what they can, knowing that a child is waiting who is enduring more than financial strife. Our wish kids suffer more in a day than most of us do in a lifetime and most of the time they do it with a smile. I’ve learned so much here at Kids Wish Network, not only about the suffering our wish kids go through, but also about the wonderful benefits of giving. Thank you to all of our wonderful sponsors across this great nation! We couldn’t keep the smiles going without all of your help!

Doris
Development Department

Hi!

Here at Kids Wish Network, we strive to make every wish truly special and go above and beyond the expectations of our wish families. I recently received a beautiful letter from the grandmother of Donny, one of my wish kids, and it completely confirmed that our hard work to make each wish unique and memorable is definitely worth going the extra mile. It is so nice to know that we are making a difference for these kids.

Donny’s only wish was for a big screen TV, and with the help of some awesome sponsors, we pulled through for him. His wish came in the form of a beautiful 46 inch flat screen, but we didn’t stop there. To make his wish even more special, we also got him a year of free digital cable.

I’ve posted below the inspiring words from his grandmother. What she doesn’t know is that I just sent another box yesterday with a personalized autographed 8 X 10 picture of Donny’s favorite musician: Gene Simmons of KISS. Mr. Simmons also sent an autographed clock! Hope Donny enjoys it!

Madeline

Wish Department

Dear Madeline,

Irene (Donny’s Grandmother)

When we grant a wish here at Kids Wish Network, we always send out a huge gift box full of toys for our wish kids. Before the wish is granted, the wish coordinators interview each child and ask them about things they like: favorite color, song, movie, hobby, etc.

The fun thing about this is going into the warehouse and picking out all of the toys to send to each child. There is everything from stuffed animals to video games, and plenty of gifts that would make any child smile.

From time to time I get to do a gift box, and it is probably one of my favorite things to do here. I always imagine the look on each little boy or girl’s face when they get a huge box full of surprises that is addressed to them. I think about the excitement they must feel, and I hope that the few hours of delight take their minds off their illnesses and let them be a kid.

Elizabeth

Carlisle, KY – A young boy with a life-threatening illness who wanted his very own playhouse recently had his wish come true with the help of national charity Kids Wish Network.

Trenton was born with Spina Bifida, an illness which causes different degrees of paralysis, ambulatory problems, loss of sensation and deformation of the hips, knees and feet. Trenton uses a wheelchair for mobility because he is paralyzed from the waist down. Along with his Spina Bifida, he also has Hydrocephalus – the buildup of cerebrospinal fluid in the skull – which required doctors to place a shunt in his skull that relieves pressure. He has had four surgeries to revise the shunt, and he also has progressive atrophy of his left kidney.

Trenton’s great aunt had been donating to Kids Wish Network for quite some time before she found out that Trenton would be eligible to have a wish granted by the charity. But as soon as she found out, she wasted no time in referring Trenton for a wish. It didn’t take long for a Kids Wish Network Wish Referral Specialist to contact Trenton’s mother, Leann.

Once the application was processed, Wish Coordinator Jen contacted the family about getting Trenton’s wish started. Trenton, whose favorite show is “Little House on the Prairie” and who loves horses, wished for his own playhouse.

“I think he chose the playhouse because he is the type of person who likes to have his own space. There are four [other] children and he doesn’t get a lot of time to himself and the playhouse would be a quite place for him to go,” Leann said.

Along with Wish Funding Specialist Doris, Jen got to work and found a contractor who would be willing to build the playhouse. Materials were donated from various companies, including lumber, concrete and windows. Jen even set up a party for Trenton and his family members to celebrate the finished product. She found a local baker who made a cake for the party which had a replica of Trenton in his wheelchair, the playhouse and Trenton’s horse on it.

“The party went great. And the cake was absolutely out of this world,” said Leann.

Trenton said that he enjoyed the party and the cake.

“We had a lot of people there and we mostly sat outside and talked,” he said. “And I ate cake.”

Leann said that Trenton’s wish came true and she is very pleased with how everything turned out.

“As many problems as Trenton has had and everything he has been through, it’s just amazing the love and the support that children like him really do receive from people that you don t even know,” she said.

So what is Trenton’s favorite thing about his brand new playhouse?

“I can just sit in there and have peace and quiet. We are going to put a TV in there and I can watch whatever I want,” he said.

Kids Wish Network would like to thank the following for helping to make Trenton’s wish extra special: Home Depot- Richmond Rd., Home Depot- Harrodsburg Rd, Hall Construction, The Fairy Cake Mother, Tri-County Lumber, Congelton Lumber, horsepresence.com, 1~2~1 Marketing Services Group/Homestead Design, Inc., Elks Lodge #2819, Elks Lodge #438, Sam’s Club #8188, VFW Franklin Sousley Post 1834, VFW Simon Kenton Post 2734, VFW Boonesboro Post 7098, Woodmen of the World #936

Kids Wish Network is a nationally recognized non-profit organization dedicated to infusing hope, creating happy memories, and improving the quality of life for children. If you know a child between the ages of 3 and 18 who may be in need of its wish granting services, please call 727-937-3600 or toll free 888-918-9004. For more information on Kids Wish Network, visit us at www.kidswishnetwork.org

Even on a stormy Florida day like today, I just love hearing all the sunny people here at Kids Wish Network headquarters. Despite the thunderclaps that punctuate phone calls to newspaper offices, sponsors, hospitals and wish kids, everyone is just doing a fantastic job. I see smiles everywhere and bright attitudes that are even outshining the sun at the moment. It’s a great feeling and I just wanted everyone to know the joy I always witness here.

~Alicia
Editorial Dept.