Hello everyone, Disney Ambassador Marilyn here. This
year is the 40th anniversary for our friends at Make-A-Wish,
who's amazing work creates life changing experiences for
children with critical illnesses. We know that wishes
are more than just special moments in time, they are life
changing, and their impact can stay with the wish child and the
millions of people who make them come true for a lifetime. Last
year at D23 Expo, our CEO Bob Chapek shared an amazing video
that reminded us of this lasting impact. Today, we're excited to
introduce to you a new series called "The Wish Effect," where
we'll take a deeper look at some of the journeys of some pretty
amazing Wish Kids. You'll hear first hand about their wish, how
their wish has stayed with them, and what they're up to these
days. To kick it off, we wanted to share a follow up to the
video Bob shared at D23. We hope you'll enjoy this behind the
scenes look at four of these incredible wish kids and their
bravery and resilience in the face of adversity. And stay
tuned for even more stories as part of "The Wish Effect."
On both of our wish trips, we
both wished to have a meal with the princesses. Her's was in
2008 and mine was in 2011. I was really excited of like going to
Disney and meeting princesses was just a dream come true for
me. We were diagnosed really, really young. At five days old,
I was diagnosed with cancer of the eye. I was diagnosed with
cancer of the eyes like my sister.
I was diagnosed with a malignant tumor, my pituitary gland. It
just sprang up in growth. I could barely move. It was
horrible. But then Make-A-Wish came into my life. That just
changed my whole life around.
I was diagnosed with leukemia. When you're six you kind of just
go on with the day you don't understand the gravity of the
situation. What better way to kind of get away and kind of be
whisked away into a magical world. Disney World was a very
big part of my life.
One of the principles in Star Wars for Jedi is balance. If you
balance your life with treatments stuff, you know you
feel sick, there's other things that can come into your life
that can make you feel better.
A lot of times during treatment, you don't feel like you are
allowed to have fun.
Our Make-A-Wish trip
was the first time we really felt like we could breathe.
Something that takes our mind and our reality away and allows
us to kind of be a kid again.
Disney World really brought a new perspective per se of life.
He was looking forward to the next trip.
Going to Disney is our light in the darkness. It was our relief
after treatment. And we really needed that.
And if we're going through hard time, I just remember back then
how the wish uplifted my spirit. Anything could come into your
life and make your life better.
I look back and smile. Everywhere I go, Disney is still
with me.
♪When you wish upon a star, your dreams come true.♪