Layla was a senior in high school when she was brought to the ICU having experienced a seizure, partial paralysis and loss of speech. It took two agonizing months for doctors to ultimately confirm that she has a high-grade malignant glioma – brain cancer. She immediately underwent radiation and chemo while keeping up her schoolwork and duties as the co-captain of the Minnetonka Skipperettes performance dance team. Her family and large circle of friends have stood by her side and dad’s admiration spoke for all of them, “she is so strong and so brave and continues to keep a positive attitude and even a sense of humor.”
After enduring extreme emotional ups and downs with tumor reduction and then growth again, Layla’s social worker sent in a wish referral as a rush wish. In situations where there may not be a lot of time, we fast-forward our paperwork, interview and approval process to ensure we are participating at the tempo needed to fulfill a wish. During her wish interview, this young lady continued to look ahead and talked about her future goals of attending college and the possibility for receiving tuition assistance for St. Thomas this Fall. She also shared how much she enjoyed her senior trip with friends and other vacations with family. After further discussions with her social worker, it was determined that a vacation may be a better option to ensure the fulfillment of her wish, so we worked with the family to come up with a destination that would best suit Layla’s desire to experience something new and exciting, while close to home. Where better to find something outside of the Midwest than New York City! We made sure her days in the Big Apple were as full and invigorating as Layla herself. In addition to our wish contributors who partnered to adopt Layla’s wish – Twin Cities Orthopedics, Visitation School and Simek’s – we’d also like to thank Delta Air Lines for giving Layla the VIP treatment at both airports and Hotel Hugo for the generous donation of hotel rooms at their gorgeous hotel!
