Almost every day, 10-year-old Grayson Cohen asks his mom if his sister, Jamison, can ride her bike outside with him and their other two brothers.
If he’s not asking about bike riding, he asks if Jamison can join them outside of their Potomac, Maryland, home and kick a soccer ball around. In both cases, the answer has always been no.
Jamison, a 13-year-old with a nervous system disorder, is allergic to the sun and is UV sensitive. Her mother, Nikki Cohen, said Jamison just wants to be included but can’t safely be outside. The uneven pavement in the backyard also proved to be difficult to navigate with Jamison’s bike or wheelchair.
But with help from Make-A-Wish Mid-Atlantic and homebuilder Van Metre, Jamison on Thursday afternoon cut the ribbon on a new sports court in their backyard. It’s covered with UV shades.
With family and friends watching, she rode around the court on her bike. Her three brothers are already eager to break it in.
“I love it, and I’m glad that Jamie can play with us,” one of them said.
Jamison is one of the about 375 Wishes that the organization grants in D.C., Maryland and Virginia every year, according to Lesli Creedon, president and CEO of Make-A-Wish Mid-Atlantic.
The process started in January 2023 when Creedon spoke to Glen Skutnik, who is the group president of investment properties with Van Metre. They were discussing Van Metre’s pledge to grant one wish a year, and five minutes after the call, Creedon sent Skutnik the details of Jamison’s wish.
“Together, we thought about all of the things that Jamie could potentially wish for,” Nikki Cohen said. “We decided that playing with her brothers on a safe sports court, even away from the sun, would be the best way to go.”
From start to finish, the project took 18 months. There’s also a pathway from the house to the sports court, to allow Jamison to easily access it.
“We’re a hockey family, my boys all play hockey,” Nikki said. “And I think that Jamie’s going to take them all to the net and show them what top cheddar really looks like.”
Now that the court is ready to be used, she said all four kids will be able to play together, something that hasn’t happened outside.
“You can’t really put it into words what something like this means to their family,” Skutnik, with Van Metre, said. “And so we’re just blessed to be part of that.”
“[The chance to] give my daughter a typical, normal play experience, it’s just beyond words,” Nikki said.
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