ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — Make-a-Wish Mom Kelly says Carson is a ball of fire. To watch him run and climb, you would never know the obstacle course that life layed out for him and his family.
Kelly remembers the day their whole world changed. "Before I put him down for that nap he was a happy 5-month old. Loved playing with his brother and sister, trying new foods, he was chunky and happy and smiley and meeting all of his benchmarks. I put them down for a nap." In fact Kelly even grabbed a picture from the baby monitor because it was the first time Carson had ever rolled over onto his stomach. But what she soon found was that was the least of the changes about to be thrust upon them.
"He woke up from that nap just inconsolable then vomiting, I noticed he couldn't put any weight on his left leg." Carson went in for a battery of tests, but it wasn't until they scanned his brain that they realized what was going on.
"I'll never forget where I was standing when I was told it's a tumor." That was 2018, Carson was diagnosed with glioblastoma, an aggressive form of cancer. Two days later he was in surgery to remove the tumor, with a year of chemo to follow. "He was so weak and sick from his treatment that it was tough for him to recoup." The good news is he's now been in remission since 2019, getting scans every four months. "He's just a happy active boy but he still is affected by a lot of what he went through. He wears hearing aids because he has hearing loss from the chemotherapy. He still has left side weakness but he will keep you running around."
And he will get help in his recovery and building back strength through the wish granted to him by Make-a-Wish WNY, a playset, built over the summer allowing him continue to work on his motor skills. Make-a-Wish is one of the recipieints of funding raised through the 11 Day Power Play, and several players were on hand to make the unveiling extra special. Kate Glaser of Make-a-Wish says they wanted to make the unveiling special, so they came up with the idea of an honor guard and archway created with hockey sticks. "A tunnel passing throuogh hockey sticks, what is better than that? So we thought he had this amazing hill leading down to the playset. So let's have that tunnel of hockey sticks sort of lead him to the playset. It really worked out so well." And the players were honored to be part of it.
For more information on the 11 Day Power Play, visit their website. To contribute, visit Pete's fundraising page