In September last year, Iz’s Mum Karen noticed that Iz had severe stomach pain, and brought him to University HospitalLimerick. She told us “Nothing could have prepared us for being told that Iz had a gonadal germ cell tumour. It was everyparent’s worst nightmare.”
“For Iz, hearing the word cancer was terrifying. His grandad had died from cancer less than a year earlier. Iz’s siblings werealso terrified that their brother was going to die.”
Iz’s treatment began with long journeys to Crumlin Children’s Hospital in Dublin, where he underwent chemotherapytreatment, followed by emergency surgery on his tumour. Before surgery, Iz and his mum had to listen to all the risksassociated with the surgery, and afterwards Iz turned to him mum and asked, “Am I going to die?”
“As his mam, all I could do was reassure him that this was a positive step, that he was in expert hands and that everythingwas going to be okay. I asked him afterwards if he had been scared going into theatre and he told me that he trusted itwould all work out. Thankfully, it did.”
During Iz’s rounds of chemotherapy, his nurse Joanne suggested that he apply for his wish. His mum told us “It was lovelyto suddenly have conversations with Iz that weren’t about chemotherapy, scans, blood results, or hospital appointments.Instead, we could talk about something exciting and ask him what he would choose if he could have a wish. After everythinghe had been through, it gave him something completely different and positive to think about and look forward to.”
When our volunteers met with Iz to discover more about him, they learned that Iz is a self-taught acoustic guitar player andabsolutely loves music. His favourite band is Metallica! Iz has his own band, and he loves to play metal music. His dreamguitar is a Fender AM Classic Strat, and he would love to use is during performances for his band. It was no surprise that Izwished to have a new electric guitar!
When Iz’s wish day arrived, Nicole and Mark travelled to the house to deliver his new guitar, complete with an amp, electricmedal, and everything he needed to get started.
Mum Karen told us “The biggest highlight was seeing Iz with his electric guitar. After a year when so much of his life hadrevolved around being sick, this was simply something that made him happy.”
“Thankfully, Iz is doing really well now. Receiving his Make-A-Wish felt almost like a sense of closure on an incrediblydifficult year for our family. For so long, everything had revolved around cancer; diagnosis, surgery, chemotherapy, hospitalstays and travelling between Limerick and Dublin. The wish gave Iz something positive that was completely separate fromall of that. And because he plays his guitar every day, the impact of his wish didn’t end on the day he received it. It continuesto bring him joy.”
“Cancer took away a lot of normal teenage life from Iz for a time. Make-A-Wish gave some of that joy back to him, while alsomaking his brothers and sisters feel part of something special. After everything our family has been through, that meansmore to us than we could ever put into words.”
#wishwednesday #sparkjoy #lightuphope
