Organization grants wish to local boy

Miriam Ostermann
Times Associate Editor

 

When nine-year-old Chase Gingerich gets bored he starts to run. He runs during his recess break, he runs with his running club, and even at a fundraising even held in his honour. The skinny youngster can easily eat his dad under the table with a 3,000-calorie diet, and has an infectious humour and positive outlook that inspired his friends and family daily. While Chase appears to be like most other kids his age, under the surface his body is fighting a genetic disorder that already caused him to endure more hospital visits than most people will experience in a lifetime.
After taking off his sleep apnea mask that prevents him from failing to breathe in his sleep, his day starts with 32 pills, inhalers, and continuous maintenance of his body weight with a 3,000-calorie diet. Once a month, Chase requires painful injections to combat a fungus in his lungs he is allergic to, and hospitalization, antibiotics, and steroids have become a benchmark in their every-day lives. That’s because Chase is suffering from cystic fibrosis, an incurable fatal hereditary disease that affects the digestive system and lungs in children and young adults. Because of his disease, Chase and his parents are now looking forward to a trip to Legoland next Christmas– a trip made possible by the Make a Wish Foundation.
“It’s overwhelming and I’m excited for him,” said his mother Brandy Andersen. “It means the world to be able to give him this I can’t say that I would ever be able to do this for him. For the three of us to go, even though [his dad] and I are separated, we still try to do things as a group with him.”
Andersen made the local news earlier this year when the community banded together to raise funds for the family, after Andersen’s vehicle broke down. She relied on friends’ and family’s vehicles to take her son to the hospital; which added up to a minimum of 17 trips a year.
During a trip to West Edmonton Mall, the single mother noticed a woman working for the Make a Wish Foundation and began talking about her son’s condition. After filling out paperwork, phone calls to physicians and social workers, Chase was granted a wish. While Andersen floated the ideas of the Las Vegas rodeo and monster trucks, and a Disney cruise, Chase’s heart was set on Legoland, in Florida, where the family will also get to experience Disneyworld.
Fundraising efforts are already underway, as Chase’s team, Kiewit Energy Canada, is participating in tasks and games to fundraise specifically for him, during the Exiled Island event at the McMahon stadium. The Make a Wish Foundation also raised $3,000 during the Jellybean Dance held in Strathmore two weeks ago.
Chase, who is involved in soccer, scouts, and curling, said he chose Legoland because he’s always liked Legos. Possibly joining the family on their trip are his grandma and cousin who live in eastern Canada.
Although the family planned the trip a year in advance to allow time to get affairs in order, passports renewed, and wiggleroom for him to change his mind, Chase seemed unwavering in his decision as he polished off a plate of chicken wings.