Karsen, aka “Kasey,” is a 17-year-old from Clearwater who was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma during the last month of her sophomore year of HS. After months of treatments and the difficult loss of this pretty teen’s hair, she spent her junior year struggling with online classes. Today she is thrilled to be back for her senior year at St Michael Albertville High School. This outgoing and resilient teen loves to travel and is a huge Vikings fan, so her wish was for the ultimate combination of the two: a trip to see the team play in London in October! Wishes & More was ecstatic to team up with Pitzl & Pitzl to help fund the wish along with our very own MN Vikings to help make this wish extraordinary! Experience Kasey’s wish and feel the depth of Dad’s gratitude in the message below as they returned from London and the Vikings win over the Jets:
What an amazing and humbling day! We are simply overwhelmed with gratitude for all the efforts of so many incredible people over the past few days, and today in particular.
We arrived at the stadium today among a mass of people larger than any we’ve ever seen in one place. All in purple! It was definitely a Vikings home crowd.
We were escorted into the building by Logan and Samantha from the Vikings and treated like VIPs from the moment we got there to the moment we left. A few turns down the hallways and suddenly we were on the field to watch the beginning of team warmups. We got to spend over an hour down there, watching the players and waving to them from just a few feet away. We felt like the top of the world! But that was only the beginning. Then more famous faces started appearing, some literally right next to us. Former players like Cris Carter and Jared Allen, then Vikings Owner Zygi Wilf and GM Kwesi A-M. Oh, and then Woody Harrelson (!) stopped by, alongside congressman Dean Phillips.
Best sidelines experience was when Paul Allen, the voice of the Vikings, came over and said “You must be Kasey?” and shook her hand. Then right there on the spot he pulled out his radio voice and said “Sam Darnold deep in the pocket, he looks left to Jefferson, then right to Karsen. He throws it deep! And it’s Karsen for a touchdown”. Then he shook all our hands and told us to enjoy the game. We were absolutely speechless for several minutes…
Logan and Sam took us on a brief hike and we stopped a couple of times for photo ops, then Logan hit us with bad news. Apparently there was “something wrong” with the tickets we’ve been given. He then opened a door and said he hoped “this private suite was OK?”.
Laid out was food and drinks and a small group of other VIPs, including another “Wish” family from the UK, who we really enjoyed meeting and spending time with. Plus the best view in the house. Heated seats and everything!
So, Yes, the Vikings won. But that was really the least of all the outstanding experiences we had today. Our gratitude knows no bounds.
All our Best, from London!
–Marc, Lisa, Kasey, Evan
