A young girl who battled leukemia got her wish and made sure her friends were there to enjoy it, too.
Three-year-old Aubrey Hirsch had long wished to attend the circus so local businesses banded together with the Make-A-Wish Foundation, a charity that grants wishes to children who have dealt with critical illnesses, to make it happen.
On Tuesday, The Pipe Shop in North Vancouver transformed into a circus, complete with a magician, juggler, acrobats, circus games, face painting and “as much cotton candy and hot dogs and popcorn as she can handle,” said Stuart Chase of Make-A-Wish.
Aubrey attended the festival dressed in a pink fairy costume.
“Aubrey loves pink,” said Michaela Morantz of Make-A-Wish. “It’s the one thing that mom says that she never changes her mind on.”
Aubrey was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia two years ago.
“We moved into B.C. Children’s Hospital,” said her mother, Megan Davis. “For seven months straight, we lived there while she underwent an intensive chemotherapy regime and then a bone marrow transplant.”
Aubrey is currently in remission and enjoying “a more carefree life,” according to Davis.
“We can go to the playground and do a lot of the things that normal kids are able to do now that’s she’s not as immuno-compromised.”
A nurse practitioner approached the family about granting Aubrey a wish after all she had endured.
When Aubrey learned that Make-A-Wish was going to make her circus dream a reality, she wasn’t interested in keeping it for herself. She invited her friends, many of whom she met during her time at B.C. Children’s Hospital, to enjoy the carnival-like atmosphere.
“She presented invitations to the other kids at the hospital and just wanted to include everyone, as she normally does,” said her father, Allan Hirsch.
The B.C. and Yukon chapter of the Make-A-Wish Foundation granted 130 wishes last year, the most of any chapter in Canada.
“A wish transforms that child into a life of hope, strength and joy, and that’s what this circus is all about,” Chase said.
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