Wishes granted

Organization gives three wishes to Warden family with Brittle Bone Disease

WARDEN — June 30 is a day 6-year-old Karissa Rodriguez and her two older brothers won't soon forget.

It is the day the first of three wishes was granted to their family through Wishing Star, a non-profit organization in eastern Washington and Idaho that grants wishes to children with life-threatening illnesses between the ages of 3 and 21.

The illness Karissa, her 11-year-old brother Andy, 12-year-old brother Victor and mother Shelly have is Brittle Bone Disease.

The severity of the disease, which leaves bones extremely brittle and in some cases deformed due to a lack of calcium and collagen proteins, is such that leaving home to play with friends down the street or participating in sports can be a looming burden. Every activity increases the possibility of breaking another bone.

There is no cure for the disease they have, also commonly known as Osteogenesis Imperfecta.

If it weren't for the wishes granted to the Rodriguez family by Wishing Star, this summer would be like any other summer living with Brittle Bone Disease: Monotonous and inactive.

"It's kind of hard because we can't run as fast as other people," said Andy of leaving home to play.

Where once there was an empty backyard, only filled with the sounds of the family's pit bull, Gator, is now a bustling center of family activity. The three wishes fulfilled were a hot tub for Karissa, a playhouse for Victor and basketball court for Andy.

The wishes granted to each of the Rodriguez children from Wishing Star are an act of generosity Shelly envisions as a way to give hope and a little bit of childhood back to her children.

"I don't have the words to thank this foundation for what they've done," Shelly said of Wishing Star.

The Rodriguez family was nominated in February to be selected for Wishing Star from Shriners Hospital in Spokane where the family has gone for numerous treatments.

In March Wishing Star representatives met the Rodriguez family in their home to discuss what their wishes were.

To be eligible to receive wishes, the Rodriguez family had to live in Eastern Washington and have children under the age of 21 who live at home, said Shelly Hervey, president of the Tri-cities chapter of Wishing Star.

That chapter has only granted one other wish to a family living with Brittle Bone Disease that lived in Richland, but this is the only family the organization has granted a wish to where four people in the same family have had the disease.

"They just want to be normal kids," Hervey said. "They try not to let it affect their life any."

Of granting wishes to families like the Rodriguezes, Hervey believes it helps children with life-threatening illnesses to have something to look forward to and make them feel special.

While Shelly Rodriguez realizes the wishes will not make the effects of the disease disappear, she is glad it will provide more options for activities at home.

They get bored playing video games and watching TV all day, but it's not practical for them to leave home and play outside either, Shelly Rodriguez said.

The acts of generosity have not ended there.

In addition to Wishing Star's contributions, both the Lions and Kiwanis clubs of Moses Lake and Warden donated money to build a wheelchair ramp in the front of the Rodriguez home.

A family friend, Joe Hernandez, spent his own time to build and purchase materials to build a deck for the hot tub that was purchased for Karissa's wish.

Hernandez said he volunteered after meeting Karissa and decided he wanted to do something for her family.

After being introduced to the 6-year-old, "I had a soft heart," he said.

Being selected to receive three wishes and the support her community has shown her family is something Shelly said made her feel grateful, but reminded her that there are other children just as much or more in need as her own.

"We shouldn't take anything for granted," she said.