There was one person standing outside of Chapters in West Edmonton Mall early Tuesday morning, eagerly awaiting for the doors to open.
“It’s a list of books, like sci-fi books and stuff; like werewolves, zombies, that kind of stuff, because I just like that kind of stuff,” says 13-year-old Ravyn Stevens as she points to a long list of book titles she’s written down in a notepad.
When the doors open, Ravyn is a teenager on a mission. She enthusiastically grabs books off shelves, stacks them into a shopping cart, and crosses the titles off her list.
“This is her Disney World, this is her Glee. She gets to come here and grab books off the shelf and not have to worry and put them in the cart. This will make her day. She’ll be reading books for the next two, three months,” says Ravyn’s father, Dave Stevens.
The shopping spree is Ravyn’s wish. The 13-year-old has thyroid cancer. When the Make-A-Wish Foundation approached Ravyn, offering to grant her one wish, the teenager knew right away she wanted to go shopping at a book store.
“I was really happy because I knew I would have a lot to do,” says Ravyn as she continues to pick out books inside of Chapters.
“First one they ever had for books. Usually you think Disneyland, go on a trip, or whatever, but this is the first time every they got a wish for books. But that’s my girl, she loves to read,” says Ravyn’s dad.
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“When they pulled out the little cue cards to see, to help with getting that stimulation going for a thought of a wish, it was just books,” adds Ravyn’s mom, Samantha Stevens.
During the past year, Ravyn has gone through two surgeries and eleven days of radiation treatment. It’ll be a similar schedule over the next few months; she’s scheduled to have another surgery and a second round of radiation treatment.
“She had ten tumors removed the first time, 52 tumors removed the second time. And the internal stitches that she had in the tumors, her body’s rejecting them. So she keeps getting openings in her neck and the stitches are being spit out. So now she’s gotta go back for another surgery to rectify the problem, and they’re thinking there’s more tumor growth in there as well,” says her dad.
“It’s been okay. I’d rather do without it, but it’s not much I can change,” Ravyn says.
Since the initial shock of discovering she has thyroid cancer, Ravyn has shown amazing strength. It’s been an inspiration for her parents who call the 13-year-old their hero.
“She’s gone through it all with a kind of, ‘it is what it is and we move,’ so that makes us strong,” says Ravyn’s mom.
“I was sad for a little bit, cried for like half an hour or so, and then I just wanted to get it done cause me crying isn’t going to stop anything from happening,” says Ravyn.
Ravyn credits her internal strength to the way she was raised. She’s determined to not allow the disease to break her spirit.
“It gets your soul, and you stop fighting it because you’re too sad to do anything,” says Ravyn.
And the trip to the book store has helped to lift Ravyn’s spirit as well her family’s.
“The Make-A-Wish has given us an opportunity get our little girl,” her mom says. “To be that little girl, love books and smile and not have to face the world with cancer treatment.”
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