April is World Wish Month. WTOP has teamed up with Make-A-Wish Mid-Atlantic to spotlight the amazing kids and volunteers that are part of this organization. To view our coverage, learn more about how you can become a WishMaker and make a donation, visit our Make-A-Wish hub.
When asked why he was granted a wish, Jack Prior, an 8-year-old Make-A-Wish alum from Chantilly, Virginia, answered, “I beat cancer and Make-A-Wish wanted me to have a good life.”
When Jack was granted a wish, it surprised his mother.
“Everything I had known about Make-A-Wish prior to his diagnosis, I thought it was for children that were terminal,” Caitlin Prior said. “Someone pointed out to me it’s Make-A-Wish, not necessarily, ‘make a last wish.’ So it’s for all the kids that are battling the critical illnesses.”
Prior described October 2020 when Jack was diagnosed with cancer as devastating.
Not only was it in the middle of the pandemic, but the Priors had just moved and they also had two year-old twins at home.
Prior said they were honored when her son was granted a wish.
“The fact that he picked Disney World, because of a family of five, it’s something that we probably wouldn’t have been able to do on our own,” she said. “It was a whole week of just being happy, with no worries.”
Asked what he thinks about those that work and volunteer at Make-A-Wish Mid-Atlantic, Jack said, “I would actually describe them as friends.”
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