Thriving and Shining on the Star of the Seas
Wish kid Sawyer’s wish to go on the biggest cruise ship in the world gave him and his family a chance to finally exhale and have fun after a long leukemia journey.
A Long Journey
While wish kid Sawyer was in the hospital for leukemia treatment, a collaged poster of him as captain of the biggest cruise ship in the world, the Star of the Seas, hung on the wall. The poster, made by one of his nurses, inspired him and gave him strength — and helped him look beyond his treatment and towards something exciting: his Star of the Seas cruise wish!
When Sawyer was diagnosed with leukemia, he and his parents were at the hospital for his first rounds of chemotherapy for nearly four months, missing Halloween, Thanksgiving, his birthday, Christmas, and New Years. “He got to go home maybe a total of ten days,” his mom Taylor says. On top of that, they needed to be apart from Sawyer’s little sister Amelia to keep Sawyer safe from potential germs. They soon moved to another hospital, where Sawyer had his bone marrow transplant. It meant another four months away from home — months full of sickness, fear, and worry — but the transplant was successful.
A year later, Sawyer is now back in kindergarten, experiencing life as most 7-year-olds do: at home with his whole family, playing soccer, football, and video games with friends. Taylor describes the months since returning home as “bittersweet. I’m super grateful he is where he is, but its still hard not to be worried every time a fever or bruise pops up.”
Overcoming, Healing, and Thriving
Adjusting back to normal life is hard when something as life-altering as leukemia forever changes what “normal” means. That’s why Sawyer’s wish to spend a week on the gigantic Star of the Seas cruise ship was so powerful. On his wish, Sawyer and his family experienced celebrity treatment: touring the ship’s command center and meeting the ship dog, Rover, watching breathtaking performances, and eating all the pizza and ice cream a 7-yearold could dream of.
On island stops at Coco Cay, St. Martin, and St. Thomas, sunshine-loving Sawyer played in the crystal-clear waters and slid down exhilarating water slides. It was a week of absolute joy. Taylor says, “truly it was the most amazing… seeing him feeling like a normal kid and being able to breathe. He’s overcome a really hard year. We all have, and we’re still thriving, going, and shining.” Sawyer’s wish allowed him and his family to finally exhale, spending the quality time together they missed out on over the past year.
The road back to normalcy and comfort in the wake of a critical illness is long. Healing is not linear, and memories stay on the surface for years. Sawyer’s wish is a testament to how an experience of outrageous fun brings the joy, hope, and strength needed to keep going. Wishes lighten the load that families carry on their journey to healing, giving them new, positive memories to carry alongside the hard ones, helping them to keep cruising.
