South Florida Sun-Sentinel Palm Beach (Sunday)
Teen cancer survivor’s four-wheel dream comes true
A life-threatening medical condition left the Miranda family reeling with fear and trepidation for their son Jose who was diagnosed with stage III cancer. Despair was quickly transformed into hope and faith as the 19-year-old teenager underwent months of chemotherapy treatment and surgery that paved the way to receiving a clean bill of health.
As they have done with countless others, Make-A-Wish Southern Florida helped make a dream come true when they took Jose’s 20-year-old jeep and arranged for an extensive makeover done by Superior Auto Design of Pompano Beach. This was made possible by donations by local benefactors.
Since 1983, Make-A-Wish Southern Florida has granted over 13,000 wishes to children with critical medical conditions. The Southern Florida chapter includes 22 counties in southeast and southwest Florida as well as the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Despite the adverse effects of COVID
19, the foundation has continued to have a positive impact on granting life-changing wishes for children. The organization heard about Jose’s condition from medical professionals at the University of Miami’s Children’s Hospital during his treatment phase.
“COVID has put a little bit of a dent into our ability to grant some wishes, but we are still doing all we can to help out,” said Richard Kelly, the chief operating officer for Make-A-Wish Southern Florida. “We started the process for Jose after he qualified. Wishes involving travel have been difficult to fulfill and have been put on hold. Cruise wishes, as well as theme park wishes, have also been put on hold. Last year, we hosted 18 Super Bowl wishes but we could not do that this season. We are still able to grant safe wishes. COVID has slowed us down but has not hampered all of our operations.”
Superior Auto Design has been part of four wishes with the Make-A-Wish Foundation, and the relationship continues today.
“They did such an excellent job the first go-around that we continued to use their expertise and they are fully capable of doing anything we ask of them,” Kelly said. “They are such a great partner to work with and they put their heart and soul into it. That Jeep means something special to Jose and you can see that on his face. This Jeep is his baby and he loves that car. He and his family will enjoy this wish.”
Jose’s father, Irving Miranda, is a 22-year Army veteran who has been deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan twice. Being a military family, they are accustomed to moving whenever the orders come in. The Mirandas were living in Alaska when Jose was diagnosed with stage III cancer in 2019. The yolk sac tumor is a rare kind of malignant primitive germ cell tumor.
“My brother is a surgeon in Miami and he conferred with some of his colleagues and recommended that we bring Jose to Miami to take care of him,” Irving said. “Within days, he was admitted into the Children’s Hospital at the University of Miami and it was the best decision I ever made in my life. Jose is really strong and was able to withstand the chemo treatments they ran through him and were able to decrease the tumor, which was the size of a softball that was between his lungs.”
After four chemotherapy treatments that were conducted in succession, the tumor size was shrinking, setting the stage for a successful surgery.
“Besides Jose losing his hair, he never got sick from the chemo and would eat pizza when he was getting treatment,” Irving said. “All he wanted to do was eat and even put on some weight during four months of chemo treatments, which I was told was unusual. I’m a military guy and kind of tough, but I have never been so scared in my life before the surgery. Jose is such a tough kid. We were very confident with our doctor and he successfully removed the tumor and the next day Jose was walking. All the doctors and nurses were tremendous and I’ve never seen people who care so much for their patients.”
Jose is back in school at Santa Fe College in Gainesville and looking forward to getting his life back on track. He had his old Jeep transported 4,000 miles down to Florida from Alaska.
“My overall experience with Make a Wish was phenomenal”, he said. “I was asked what my wish was and within a couple of weeks, my Jeep was at Superior Auto Design. My Jeep means a lot to me and over the years, my dad and I have been restoring her bit by bit. So, when I first saw her completely renovated, I was shocked. I was very excited and happy that my Jeep had taken on a new life and it looked brand new. My original wish was to go to Spain, but because of COVID19, I decided to have my jeep ‘pimped’ out. Now that I have won the battle with cancer, I plan to continue my studies in college and earn a bachelor’s in engineering. After college, I plan to commission into the United States Air Force.”
Visit wish.org/sfla.