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Girl with illness gets her wish: trip to Disney World
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Aniyah Ward of Youngstown
By Jordan Cohen
The third-grader’s mother went online to apply to have her daughter’s wish granted.
HOWLAND — Aniyah Ward of Youngstown bounced up and down in her chair, eyeing the cake in front of her and smiling.
“I’m excited,” the 8-year-old said. “I’ve always wanted to go to Walt Disney World.”
Thanks to the Make-A-Wish Foundation and Panera Bread/Covelli Enterprises, Aniyah, who has suffered from sickle cell anemia since she was 5 months old, will travel to the Magic Kingdom in Florida along with her mother, two brothers and her mother’s fianc for six days beginning Oct. 5.
Sickle cell anemia is an inherited chronic blood ailment found chiefly among black people. According to a medical definition, sickle cell anemia is characterized by an abnormal red blood cell containing a defective form of hemoglobin that causes the cell to become sickle-shaped when deprived of oxygen.
At a ceremony Monday, Covelli representatives presented a check for $6,000 to cover the costs. A spokesman said it’s the first time the company has been a Make-A-Wish sponsor.
Renee Bufford, 28, Aniyah’s mother, said her daughter has required transfusions every four weeks for the last three years at Akron Children’s Hospital on Youngstown’s North Side.
“The transfusions don’t seem to bother her,” Bufford said. “She takes a nap while she’s getting them.”
Aniyah has other challenges as well.
“She has two blood clots on her brain and occasional TIAs [trans-ischemic attacks, a term for mini-strokes], but she’s always smiling and happy,” Bufford said.
Aniyah is a third-grader at Eagle Heights Academy in Youngstown. Her mother said that she misses classes five days each month because of the transfusions.
It was Aniyah who first suggested applying to Make-A-Wish after she heard about it from another child while she was in the hospital.
“I applied online, and three weeks later, they granted the wish,” her mother said. “They actually told Aniyah before they told me.”
“To be considered for Make-A-Wish, a child must be between the ages of 2 1‚Ñ2 and 18 and must have a life-threatening illness,” said Danette Palmer, development officer of the Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana Chapter of Make-A-Wish. “Aniyah meets all the criteria.”
Aniyah said Oct. 5 can’t get here soon enough.
“I can’t wait to see all the [Disney] characters,” she said, “especially the pink princess. I feel good, and it’s great.”