Menu
Effort makes wish happen for a local cancer patient
It took a few months for it to happen, but a wish finally came true for Jessica Mespelt. With her family watching nearby, the teen climbed into the water where she got her first up-close look at dolphins.
A look of joy shone on her face as Jessica worked up the courage to kiss one of the dolphins on its nose. The visit represented a chance of a new life following a personal battle against leukemia that at one point had threatened her life.
On Feb. 16, the teen and her parents visited Discovery Cove in Florida where she had a chance to not only swim with the dolphins, but see also had the opportunity to meet other sea creatures. The visit was arranged by the Make A Wish Foundation office in Boise, which expects to grant similar wishes to more than 90 other children across the state this year.
In each case, these children face hardships others their age don't normally encounter. The foundation provides children with life-threatening medical conditions a chance to experience something that seeks to enrich their lives with hope, strength and joy, foundation officials said.
Make A Wish, a non-profit organization, makes all of these wishes happen through the generosity of others, who provide donations to cover these costs, according to Allie Gardner, wish coordinator for Idaho.
But Jessica's hardships and personal challenges extend beyond her fight against cancer. A senior at Mountain Home High School, she also has Downs Syndrome.
While Jessica underwent treatment at a hospital in Salt Lake City, her doctor referred the family to Make A Wish. Once her name was submitted, others in the Mountain Home area stepped up to help make that wish come true.
Those individuals were Marcella Trueba, A.J. Jamison and Amanda Beatty, who serve as the foundation's wish granters for Elmore County. All three of them remained very active in tracking Jessica's fight against the disease, which has remained in remission for the past 15 months.
"We felt it was necessary to grant that wish because her family had been through so much," Trueba said.
While the trip to Florida wasn't her first wish, it was a close second, according to her mother, Tina Mespelt.
"She picked it because she loves swimming and wanted to do something she's never experienced before," her mother said.
It took a little convincing to persuade Jessica to submit that specific wish since she's a bit reluctant to try new things, she added.
Jessica's wish also gave the teen a chance to try something else she had never done before in her life. It was the first time she had ever been on an aircraft.
To help Jessica overcome her reluctance, Make A Wish arranged time for the teen and her family to take a field trip to the Boise International Airport before they were scheduled to fly from Mountain Home to Florida.
The experience left Jessica with a new appreciation of marine life, Tina Mespelt said.
"She loves dolphins," her mother added. "It's now a new interest of hers."
While Jessica's cancer remains in remission, her fight hasn't ended. To keep the disease from coming back, she regularly requires a transfusion of antibodies, her mother said.