Five-alarm fashions for Make-A-Wish
When she was a toddler, her mother filled the bathtub to the top so she could practise swimming.
By the time she turned three, she was jumping into her grandparents’ inground pool and rolling effortlessly onto her back to float when she needed a rest.
Then she figured out how fun it was to drop like a pin off the end of their diving board.
Riley Chown, now 9, was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis at birth, through a routine newborn screening test. Her brother, Casey, now 11, was diagnosed soon after that.
Parents Lesley and Nathan Chown have two children with CF, a genetic condition that occurs when a child inherits two abnormal genes, one from each parent. It mostly affects the lungs and digestive system, causing symptoms such a persistent cough with thick mucous, wheezing, shortness of breath, chest infections, bowel disturbances and weight loss.
Then when Riley was three, her parents were told that she has autism.
That’s when cystic fibrosis clinic at McMaster Children’s Hospital nominated Riley and Casey for a dream through MakeA-Wish Canada, the organization that grants life-changing wishes for children living with critical illnesses.
Funds to grant wishes are raised by the community, and in this case, came from the annual Five Alarm Ladies Night, a fashion show that features firefighters as the models.
This year the show runs on Friday at Meridian Centre. There will be at least 27 firefighters from across the region, modelling board shorts, tuxedos and more, and partaking in other amusing antics including choreographed scenes and lip synching, says Darryl Amos, a St. Catharines firefighter.
The show is organized by a handful of emergency responders who have a soft spot for kids. Last year, $10,000 was given to Make-A-Wish Canada, and some to Gillian’s Place in St. Catharines and Camp Bucko, a program for young burn survivors
near Bancroft.
Lesley says the wishes-cometrue made for beautiful memories.Casey, then eight, wanted a computer with Minecraft, so he could build virtual block worlds during his twice daily treatments for CF. Morning and night he undergoes therapies designed to loosen the mucus in his lungs and make it easier to cough up.
His wish involved a shopping spree at Best Buy where he loaded the cart with a computer and an Xbox system with games.
As for Riley, who still does not use a lot of words, her parents knew her wish had to involve water.
Riley received a five-day, allexpenses-paid trip to Montego Bay, Jamaica, with her family where she spent pretty much the entire time in the water, laughing, says her mom.
It was a time when worry and stress took a back seat to sand, sun and water.
“We still talk about it,” says Lesley. “We have all those memories.”