The Disney World dreams of a 4-year-old Ohio girl who’s recovering from leukemia are looking better this week after plans for the Make-A-Wish Foundation to pay for the trip were scrapped.
The girl, McKenna May, completed intensive treatment in June for the cancer she was diagnosed with more than two years ago. It was that treatment that prevented her from going to Disney when the Make-A-Wish trip was first discussed in January 2011, McKenna’s grandmother, Lori Helppie, said Thursday.
But McKenna is now on once-a-month aftercare visits that would allow time for her to make the trip to the Magic Kingdom, her mother, Whitney Hughes, told CNN.
However, McKenna’s father, William May of Toledo, Ohio, who was never married to Hughes, says Make-A-Wish’s money would be better spent on terminally ill children who will never get to experience Disney otherwise since his daughter is free of cancer.
He’s refusing to sign paperwork that would allow the foundation to pay for McKenna’s trip.
“There’s children out there that deserve a trip like this that will never get to experience it,” May, 28, told CNN Thursday. “My daughter can go when she’s older and can remember it. I’ll pay for it.”
Rather than pay upwards of $3,500 for McKenna and her family to go to Florida, May suggested the group just get the girl a $200 swing set for her backyard.
Paul Allvin, vice president for brand advancement with Make-A-Wish Foundation of America in Phoenix, told CNN a child need not be terminally ill to qualify for wish fulfillment. That was the case when the organization started, but the policy changed more than 20 years ago, he said.
These days, all a child needs to qualify is a doctor's verification that the child has or had a condition that would be life-threatening if left untreated, Allvin said. As many as 80% of "Wish Kids" live into adulthood, he said.
"What we would never do is penalize a child for getting better," Allvin said.
Susan McConnell, president and CEO of Make-A-Wish for Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana, told the Sentinel-Tribune of Bowling Green, Ohio, that McKenna is certainly entitled to the organization’s help.
Hughes agrees with McConnell, saying her daughter endured a lot during her treatment and deserves the Florida trip.
"She's really excited," Hughes told the Sentinel-Tribune, which first published accounts of McKenna’s story this week. "It's all she's talked about for the last three months."
After May refused to sign off on the trip last month, Hughes withdrew her request with the Make-A-Wish Foundation and tried to raise money privately, putting out collection jars around the area where they live and setting up an online donation site.
Hughes said Thursday it will take $3,500 for her, McKenna, McKenna’s younger sister and her grandmother and grandfather to spend a couple of days at Disney and a couple of days at Daytona Beach “to build sandcastles.”
McKenna’s mother and grandmother have also set up a site to accept donations online, http://www.gofundme.com/Make-McKennas-wish-happe. That site showed a flurry of donations Thursday as McKenna’s story spread across national media and donations passed the $9,700 mark early Thursday evening.
“I will get her there someday, but I’m not sure when I’ll get her there,” Hughes said Thursday morning. With the online response, it appears McKenna’s dream may come true sooner rather than later.
Nevertheless, "We are ready to grant this wish if the parents can work it out," Allvin said.
© 2012 Cable News Network. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
| Advertising practices | Advertise with us | About us | Work for us | Help
I am a former volunteer for MAW. I use to work directly with the families to help kids with their wish. I can tell that the the Disney trip MAW pays for far exceeds $3500.00. If I had to guess, this trip would cost closer to 7-8K on top of all the extra perks kids recieve as a MAW quest.
The partents just don't get it. MAW has plenty of money to give for wishes....no child will go without. Problem is not enough volunteers to go out and gather the request from all the kids that have wishes.
Poor kid. Yes shes more than earned it....and so have the family. Everyone suffers through the struggle.
This is to the family. Get off your high horses, settle your differences, and do whats right for your child.
GO ON THIS VACATION! it will be the best decision you make.
At Universal it was considered an honor to escort our make a wish guests.
5 years latter I still revive Christmas cards from families.
Sadly some of the children have passed away but most families are still grateful for the few moments of happiness we helped provide.
Have the Dad just donate to make a wish
Btw why are Grand ma and Grandpa going ?
Dad claims its all a scam to let Grand-ma search for a time share in Orlando
According to the donation website, they have surpassed their goal to raise the money for the trip so maybe they should stop taking money. It would be the right thing to do unless its not really all about the trip. Just sayin'
If not dying of a disease isn't a wish granted, I don't know what is? Hello!!! Get over yourselves parents. Your kid is OK that is a DREAM COME TRUE. Kids that have no chance to live on should be granted this, not someone with any sort of life expectancy past the present.
so true!! why are they arguing over a trip to Disneyland instead of celebrating the fact that their child beat cancer?! i'm sure a lot of parents of children with cancer would gladly trade a paid trip to disneyland for their child's life!
My, aren't you ignorant about cancer, Jesse G, just like the sperm donor. This little girl just finished the cancer treatments. That dumb guy thinks if you survive the treatment you will live. 1 in 10 of these kids with leukemia finish the treatment & die anyway. You need to READ the article. The little girl is checked for cancer EVERY MONTH because if it comes back within 18 months it is 80% fatal. If it cancer comes back between 18 months & 8 years it is 50% fatal. That means this child might not have the time to wait until she is older.
Make A Wish is for children with life threatening illness. A 1 in 10 chance of dying obviously qualifies as life threatening. The other articles say he only asked for visitation very recently. He has not been in her life for more than a few months.
He was angry not to be included, so he smashed his daughter's wish of going to Disney & meeting the Disney Princesses. He certainly did not care if stress hurts the child's chance to live. Stress affects the immune system & the little girl had to wait til the end of her treatment because she was having immune system problems. Personally, I find this abusive.
Have the Dad just donate to make a wish
Btw why are Grand ma and Grandpa going ?
Dad claims its all a scam to let Grand-ma search for a time share in Orlando
Then let the kid still go but have Make a wish do ax follow up..
The grandparents & the mom were the primary caregivers during all the cancer treatments. This guy just asked for visitation & got angry when Make A Wish did not include him. He spitefully refused to sign the papers so the little girl could get her wish, then made up some BS excuse about how she is "cured" & doesn't deserve it.
The little girl just finished treatment & is in remission. The cancer could come back at any time. One out of ten kids has the cancer come back. The little girl had immune problems that prevented her from going during treatment & stress like this could make it more likely for the cancer to return. The guy is a creep who does not care if he hurts the child.
They now have enough donations to go to Disney, So the jacka$$ can go suck lemons.
"revamp the Make a Wish rules so in the future there is no question who truly deserves to have their wish granted." Wow. More arrogance that you have the right to tell Make a Wish how to operate their charity. It was Make a Wish and this child's doctors who determined she qualified in the first place. If the Dad doesn't agree with their policies, then he can act as he did, but that means that Make a Wish should change their rules? Wow.
They are supposed to be granting dying children's final wishes.
No, they grant wishes to children diagnosed with life-threatening illnesses. Leukemia is a life-threatening illness.
With all this stress her "daddy" is subjecting her to it makes a return of the cancer more likely. She still meets the criteria since she is only in remission & the cancer could reemerge at any time. If cancer comes back before 18 month it is 80% fatal. It has only been a couple of months. If it comes back inside of 8 years it is 50% fatal. Stress affects the immune system & the girl had problems with her immune system during treatment. This was actually the most stressful thing he could have done to the child, it borders on outright abuse.
It may be cold, but if she is truly cured then I do think that the MAW foundation should find another deserving child.
After all, isn't their purpose to grant dying children's final wishes? This girl isn't apparently dying anymore than the rest of us at the moment.
why do they need to take all the relatives? why don't mom and McKenna go and grandma keep the other kids. Sounds like they just all want a free vacation
^^^^^Agreed.
Why do they need all the relatives on a trip to Disney? Like the sister and Grandparents? I know it is presumptious, but from the comment I am going to assume you are single and without children. Perhaps even an only child. Part of what make an experience like that a truly memorable event for a child is it being a family vacation. Having the important people in your life there on a dream trip is part of what makes it a dream trip...especially for a child. My family went to Disneyland when I was 5. I don't remember much about the trip specifically, but it would be creepy if the pictures were just me and my mom. Instead I have pictures of my Mom, Dad, brother, sister (now deceased) and Grandmother (now deceased)....priceless stuff.
The entire family usually goes. The child has bonded with the caregivers(Mom & Grandparents) & it reduces friction when they are back home to have the siblings along. This is normal for a Make A Wish trip. It IS meant to help the child & family relieve the stress of a life threatening illness.
The biological father was not one of her caregivers because he just asked for visitation a few months ago. He is pretty much a stranger to the girl. He got angry he was not included on the trip, & spitefully refused to sign the paper for Make A Wish. His reasons are laughable. I am glad they raised the money on their own. Now he cannot blackmail Make A Wish into letting him intrude & ruin his daughter's trip to Disney.
@Jesse G.
Welcome to the age of ME. YOU don't matter. It's all about me. Me me me me me. That's what's wrong with our society.
beelzabarber, give me a break. The father wasn't "taking a stance" or acting on "principle." Get your facts straight. Make-A-Wish grants wishes to kids who are terminal AND kids who were diagnosed with life-threatening illnesses, like this girl. Also, many times a child is granted a wish, it receives publicity and it is that publicity which brings in more donations and keeps the organization funded. So the father claiming that if daughter goes on the trip, some other child will NOT be able to go, is bull****. The daughter's trip would've caused more people to donate to MAW. Also missing in your logic is that the father was NOT going to pay for a Disney trip now. He only said when "she gets older" he'll pay for her to go. So the bottom line is that he was perfectly fine with taking a Disney trip away from this little girl who has suffered with a terrible illness for the past few years. All this was about was an angry father who didn't want MAW paying for a trip for his child's mother and her family members.
So am I to assume that you stopped by the MAW site and made a pledge?
I really love what you had to say and i think that you are 100% right...
don't hurt youself jumping to conclusions
Exactly my thoughts. This father has an agenda all his own.
The father was not around to see the little girl go through excruciating treatment. If he had been, he would have seen the pain, agony, and fear, and if he loved her, there is no way he could deny her. She was in treatment for half her life, she has paid her dues. She obviously was not well enough to go while she was in treatment. If she gets sick again, then she will not likely ever get to go because her illness will kill her first. I believe that Make-A-Wish celebrates life ~ especially those that are almost lost. The dad sucks!
The family only set up a donation fund after the father refused to sign for the trip. MAW can't pay for the trip if both parents don't consent.
One of my friend's daughters was born with a heart defect. Her entire family has taken vacations every year thanks to MAW and other foundations. The girl is now ten years old. Also, if you didn't know she was born with a heart defect, you would never know she ever had anything wrong with her. She has had three three heart surgeries, but is otherwise healthy. She goes to school, plays sports, ect. I had always thought MAW and others were for terminally ill kids, that is not the case. I don't begrudge them a trip...but one every year for ten years? Especially when the parents are fairly well off. Just doesn't seem like what MAW portrays to the public.
Sounds strange. MAW chapter we worked with it's one Wish per child. No repeats.
I have seen these families, and sometimes the others need the trip just as much as the child.
How much stress have they been under taking care of the sick child.
I mean how could you enjoy a night out with your child at home with cancer
use the money for drugs
I am actively involved in MAW and this sounds like BS to me. It's one child one wish. It doesn't work the way that you suggest it does.
This child endured a pretty rotten 2 year period of time in which she was not able to be a normal child. She was subjected to painful procedures, toxic drugs with terrible side effects, and time away from family and friends. This is what Make A Wish and similar charities are for – to give kids going through hell a time to just be a kid. If she's 2 years out from treatment, she's not considered cured. I can't imagine revoking the ability to take her trip. If these wishes are only to be granted to terminally ill children, then it would stand to reason that all kids with standard risk childhood leukemia should be denied coverage, since they will most likely be cured. I think this is contrary to the mission of the charity and I think kids who are promised a wish should be able to see that fulfilled, regardless of whether they're one of those who are 'cured' after marching through hell. Shame on anyone for essentially taking candy from a baby!
What exactly do you consider to be a normal childhood when you're 2 – 3 years old? She missed out on some development most likely, but not any kind of emotional experiences she will ever remember growing up. A trip to disneyland, especially to include her grand parents, doesn't seem like this is in the scope of what MAW should be spending people's donations on. I think the mother wants this more for her family than for her previously ailing daughter, in which case she can pay for it herself.
I completely agree with you. She may not be terminal at this very moment, but in her 4 years of life she has endured alot of non-normal 4 year old issues. She may well have spent more time going to and from medical care, time actually in the hospital, and time feeling sick from side effects that she has feeling well! Of course, she deserves to go. The dad sounds like he has a massive chip on his shoulder anyways.
my son had a benign aggressive tumor in his head, he was diagnosed at age 10. It took 5 surgeries over three years. Plus reconstruction of his ear canal and hearing. His hearing now tests in the "normal" range and he was diagnosed "disease free" in August of 2011. However, we still have follow-up appointments to make sure that the tumor does not recur. I have had people ask why we didn't get anything from make a wish... My son was never "terminally ill". It was terrifying what we went thru and emotionally and physically hard but there are children out there that these funds mean so much. Families that will never have life times of memories can have one beautiful and joyous happy moment. That dream come true, that is what these funds were intended for....in my opinion.