Caltrans kid's wish comes true

At Caltrans, our days are consumed with highways, bikes, pedestrians and transit. We haven’t yet moved into the great unknown of space travel, but one Caltrans kid’s wish to see a real space ship is coming true, thanks to Make-A-Wish®.

Four-year-old Samuel, whose mother is Francis Brown in the Division of Local Assistance in Headquarters, was diagnosed in October 2016 with Wilm’s tumor kidney cancer.

Samuel was three when his mother took him to the emergency room Oct. 15, 2016, worried because he wasn’t eating and was lethargic, unusual behavior for the normally active child with a healthy appetite. A CT scan showed a large tumor filled about 1/3 of Samuel’s abdomen and was causing him immense pain. Samuel almost immediately underwent a six-hour surgery where he was nearly cut in half to remove the tumor. Months of radiation and chemotherapy followed. Samuel is now cancer free, but he will continue to be monitored to make sure the cancer doesn’t return. 

“Never give up, despite the odds,” Francis said. “You can conquer a lot more than you think you can, and words mean a lot. Samuel would insist, ‘I’m not sick.’ He said it so much I started believing it.”

It was through the hospital that Samuel was referred to Make-A-Wish®. Samuel loves spaceships and building spaceships with his LEGOs®. Samuel, like other Make-A-Wish® kids, made three wishes. His first wish was to be Batman. The second was to go to LEGOLAND, but it was his wish to see a real space ship that stood out.

“We encourage children referred for a wish to make one in each of the four categories: I wish to be; have, meet or have,” explained Make-A-Wish Chief Executive Officer Jennifer Stolo. “Samuel’s wish was so unique and in true Make-A-Wish fashion, we were able to let him know it was being granted in an extraordinary fashion by a real astronaut!”

On Nov. 8, 2017, at the annual Wake Up For Wishes breakfast event, Samuel and more than 600 guests watched a video of a space launch, after which, retired astronaut Dr. Stephen Robinson announced that Samuel’s wish to see a real spaceship is being granted. Samuel will celebrate his fifth birthday in January at the Kennedy Space Center. Samuel’s wish is sponsored by Make-A-Wish® Northeastern California and Northern Nevada chapter founder Frank Ramos. The Wake Up for Wishes event was covered by local news channels Fox 40 and Good Day Sacramento.

“Samuel deserves all of this. He’s been to hell and back,” Francis said. “Who knows what Samuel’s career will be, but if this can foster that, it could really turn into something educational.”

When Samuel was well enough to return to daycare, “the kids surrounded him and told him how much they missed him. It was like a little huddle,” Francis said. “It was so thoughtful. The thoughtfulness that children have is automatic. I know that was very helpful to Samuel’s healing.” 

The countdown to Samuel’s birthday at the Kennedy Space Station has started. “We need to just celebrate life,” Francis says. “I was putting together clothes and gathering photos of Samuel for the Wish event when I realized I could have been gathering those same things for a funeral. Samuel was so strong throughout this, so why not the moon? Why not something out of this world?”

You can watch the Make-A-Wish video “I wish to see a real spaceship” to learn more about Samuel’s story.

Make-A-Wish® Northeastern California and Northern Nevada was established in 1983 as one of the early local chapters of Make-A-Wish® America, which is the leading wish-granting organization in the country. Since then, it has granted more than 6,300 wishes to children within its 37-county service area. The mission of Make-A-Wish® is to grant wishes to children, age 2 ½ to 18, with life-threatening medical conditions to enrich the human experience with hope, strength, and joy. For more information about Make-A-Wish® Northeastern California and Northern Nevada, call 916-437-0206 or visit www.necannv.wish.org.