By Jessika Toothman
Fayette Neighbor Staff Writer
Fourteen children from around metro Atlanta who suffer from chronic
or terminal illnesses were given a special treat last week-a VIP
trip to Walt Disney World-and two of those kids live in Fayette.
Bert Weiss, host of the Bert Show on radio station Q100, has been
running the yearly trips through his organization called Bert's
Big Adventure for five years now, and this year he included 5-year-old
Darius McDaniels of Peachtree City and 6-year-old Hailey King of
Fayetteville and their families on the trip.
"Wonderful," "unbelievable," "indescribable" and "amazing," were
words used by the children's parents to describe the once-in-a-lifetime
experience.
Weiss said, "I think it is just four
days of escape for them. When these families get into the same
routine over and over and
over again, it is so stressful that I think sometimes they forget
to laugh with each other."
Children chosen must be between 5 and 12 years old, must have
a proven financial need and this must be their first trip to Disney
World.
In the case of Darius, what caught Weiss' eye was the strength
of his family, which survived not only a son diagnosed with cancer,
but being driven out of their New Orleans home by Hurricane Katrina,
all within the space of a year.
Darius had a Wilms' tumor and needed eight months of chemotherapy
and had one of his kidneys removed in June. His mom said he had
a wonderful time on the trip.
"Darius was able to relate to the other kids, and he was
able to just enjoy himself away from the stress and the worries," she
said. "It was a much-needed release."
The trip turned out to be a release for the
parents as well. "When
you are going through something like this you feel like you are
all alone," Ms. McDaniels said. "Then when you come together
and meet people who have gone through similar things as a parent-it
helps."
Weiss said, "There was a special cohesiveness
with the families this year."
Hailey has maple syrup urine disease. Weiss said what stood out
about her situation was the huge amount of effort that those around
her need to exert on a daily basis to keep her on the strict diet
necessary to keep her healthy.
Her rare disorder affects her liver's ability to digest key amino
acids found in most protein, so her diet is almost entirely limited
to fruits and vegetables and supplemental protein that she can
digest.
They also had a great time on the trip, all
the way from start to finish. Hailey's mother, Michelle Flanagan
said, "It was
even like a party on the airplane. It was crazy."
(This article originally appeared in the Fayette
Neighbor on 02/28/2007) |
