A 15-year-old girl and her family embraced the opportunity to celebrate an afternoon filled with fun and frivolity as Make-A-Wish Southern Alberta granted its 500th wish.
On Sunday, Ayrianna Daychief was the guest of honour at a Hollywood style party at the Palace Theatre in downtown Calgary. Ayrianna arrived at the theatre with a police escort before enjoying musical performances, celebrity impersonators and dancing alongside her loved ones.
“It’s really fun and really awesome,” said Ayrianna. “It makes me feel very happy and excited.”
Crystal Daychief says her daughter is a ‘neurofibromatosis warrior’. “It’s a disorder that affects her whole body. Tumours grow throughout her body. Ayrianna has three brain tumours. She struggles but she’s doing very, very good.”
Crystal says Sunday’s event was a wonderful escape for the entire family.
“You’re relaxing and you’re having fun and you’re visiting with all your friends and your family. We can’t thank Make-A-Wish enough.”
Kim Anthony, CEO of Make-A-Wish Southern Alberta, watched on as Ayrianna enjoyed her special day.
“A wish day is just so uplifting,” said Anthony. “It really does make the wish child and their family able to focus on something good, something fun, something that brings them joy. They don’t have to think about the needles, the treatments, the hospital visits. It’s about having a great time today.”
The teenager’s wish was the 500th granted by the southern Alberta chapter of Make-A-Wish since its inception in 1995.
“500 is such a milestone for us. We’re granting about 50 wishes a year and we keep increasing the number of wishes every year,” said Anthony. “We look forward to the next 500.”
For more information of the organization, visit Make-A-Wish.
