Granting wishes could help heal

Local study suggests hopeful link

Nationwide Children’s Hospital has worked more than a few miracles for sick children and their families, but now research from a top doc there suggests a new and especially encouraging kind of hope: It may be that Make-A-Wish-type experiences deliver more than a brief window of excitement and happiness.

Dr. Anup Patel, chief of neurology for the hospital, believes that having a wish fulfilled — often, a trip to a dream destination or chance to meet a favorite celebrity — may actually cause kids to get better.

Looking at the past five years and comparing Nationwide Children’s patients who had wishes granted with those who had not, Patel found that “wish kids” were two to three times as likely to see improvement — fewer health-care and emergency-department visits and lower health-care costs.

Children in the two groups had similar diagnoses, disease complexities, ages and genders.

Patel was inspired to undertake the study after seeing the dramatic change in one of his patients following a Make-A-Wish experience. North Side high-school freshman Dae’Shaun Martin had been suffering severe epileptic seizures for a year, and his disease wasn’t responding to treatments when he was granted a wish.

He and his family were sent to Los Angeles to meet Dae’Shaun’s favorite NBA player, Chris Paul, then of the Los Angeles Clippers. They met most of the players and visited Universal Hollywood Studios theme park.

And the seizures stopped, and they have stayed away for five years.

Patel didn’t know why — he still hasn’t found a medical explanation — but he was so amazed he undertook the study to see if Dae’Shaun was the only one. The fact that he wasn’t is an unexpected ray of sunshine. It could mean a sick child’s trip to Disneyland could be more than a bittersweet interlude. It could be a joyous boost toward a brighter future.