Wishing well
Jax Gaudet hopes to help make wishes come true for others battling health problems, serving as ambassador for the Truro Wishmaker Walk.
Jax Gaudet hopes he can help make wishes come true for other children battling health problems.
Last year the Children’s Wish Foundation sent Jax on a trip to Hawaii and this year he’s collecting pledges and serving as the ambassador for the Truro Wishmaker Walk.
“I really enjoyed the trip and I’d like more kids to have something special,” he said.
Jax was a toddler when his family recognized something serious was wrong. He was seven when he was diagnosed with dysautonomia. With this condition the system that controls automatic functions of the body, such as heart rate and digestion malfunctions. Sometimes the boy’s blood pressure spikes, he breaks out in a sweat while his core temperature is low and he becomes dizzy and sick to his stomach. He’s had many tests and surgeries and takes medication daily, but he doesn’t talk about his condition much because he doesn’t want his friends and family to worry. There is no cure for dysautonomia and it can cause death in severe cases.
Jax tries to take part in activities as much as he can, and is a hockey goalie and a member of the ice crew for the Bearcats.
For years he’s been eager to learn about the world wars, so when he heard the Children’s Wish Foundation was going to grant him a wish he thought Juno Beach, one of the Normandy landing operations in the Second World War, would be the ideal destination. Because of terrorist activity in France around that time plans were changed and he chose Hawaii, which included a visit to Pearl Harbor.
“Pearl Harbor was kind of sad, but it was cool how they made memorials,” said Jax.
While there, he met a 99-yearold veteran who told him what he saw and heard during the attack.
Swimming with dolphins, visiting a beach where there were sea turtles and checking out a volcano were also highlights of the trip.
Jax’s mother, Lana, along with his cousin and aunt, joined him for the trip.
To help raise money so that other children can have a wish come true Jax sold some of his toys, helped with a barbecue and a family photography event, and sold 50-50 tickets. He’s now collecting pledges for the Wishmaker Walk.
“I want to beat that guy who raises a lot every year,” he said.
‘That guy’ is Ted Retson, who has been taking part in the event for several years, raising more than $45,300 total. During the past few years he’s been collecting a little more than $2,000 for each walk. He wasn’t connected with a Wish Child but when he heard about the program he felt it was a good cause to help with.
In his Wishmaker Walk listing Jax wrote, “It’s difficult to explain in words how getting my wish made me feel, because it is a feeling in my heart. But I was able to forget about being sick for awhile.”
The walkers are happy to accept any donations to help grant a wish for another child.