City girl, 10, looks forward to 'Wish' trip
Makenzie Blystone, 10, of Butler is looking forward to her trip this month to Florida. She and her family will be visiting Disney World, Busch Gardens, Sea World and Universal Studios.
But for her, the crowning moment will literally be when she is crowned a princess in Cinderella’s Castle.
“I’m going to be crowned Little Miss Disneyworld that day at the castle with the princesses,” said Makenzie.
The fourth-grader at Penn Christian Academy and her family of seven are being given the trip through the Make A Wish Foundation of Greater Pennsylvania and Southern West Virginia. They leave at the end of the month for the week’s vacation in Florida.
It’s been a rough couple of months for Makenzie and her family.
“May 21st was her first seizure,” said Beverly Carr, her mother. “She has since been diagnosed with epilepsy. She is on medication, but unfortunately her seizures are not 100 percent controlled,” said Carr. “She’s actually on adult doses of medication.”
Carr said despite two rounds of genetic testing and three sessions of MRIs, doctors can’t be certain of the cause.
And the drugs Makenzie takes to control her seizures have had side effects, Carr said.
“There’s drowsiness. It’s left her really scatterbrained. She can’t focus,” said Carr. “It’s really changed her in a lot of ways. She used to be a cheerleader, a dancer and a twirler.”
Makenzie’s family contacted the Make A Wish Foundation after she was hospitalized, said the Pittsburgh chapter’s chief operating officer, Ann Hohn.
“Whether it’s meeting a celebrity, getting a gift, going on a shopping spree or a trip somewhere,” said Hohn. “We try to help the family at a time when they need an injection of hope and happiness.”
Hohn said her group will provide Makenzie’s family with plane tickets, a rental car and spending money for snacks and souvenirs, as well as tickets to parks and attractions.
She said the family will stay at the Give Kids the World resort, a nonprofit that caters to special-needs children. She said her group tries to fulfill the wishes of children with life-threatening, progressive, degenerative or malignant illnesses.
Hohn said her group has made 694 wishes come true in the last year and is working on 29 wishes for children in Butler County.
