Make-a-Wish sends Jack Berry to Disneyworld
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POLSON — If Jack Berry had to write a story about what he did on his summer vacation, it would probably include going to Disneyworld in Orlando Florida. Jack, 9, was nominated for the Make-A-Wish Foundation, and he chose to go to Disneyworld.
It was a hard choice, though, because Jack is a huge SpongeBob fan and also wanted to meet Tom Kenny, the voice of SpongeBob. Eventually Disneyworld won out because then his older sister Marlee could accompany the family.
Jack said the airplane made him dizzy, and his family had to get up really early to make the flight.
The Berry family – Jack, Mom Julie, sisters Marlee, Riley and Maggie — flew into Orlando, Fla., on Aug. 21 and were there until Aug. 27, staying in the Nickelodeon Suites decorated with SpongeBob and Sandy. Jack got his SpongeBob fix at the characted breakfast where he got his picture taken with with the big yellow sponge. At Universal Studios, Jack saw SpongeBob again, along with visiting Sea World and Animal Kingdom as well as Disneyworld. They went swimming a lot at the hotel and also drove to Clearwater to swim in the ocean.
Jack’s favorite ride was the river ride with a waterfall where he, his sisters and his mom got splashed twice.
The Berrys drove through Animal Kingdom in a jeep, and Jack saw a giraffe, a gorilla and a rhino.
“Did you know giraffes have black tongues?” Jack asked.
Jack also collected some pirate hats and a set of Mickey Mouse ears.
Mom Julie nominated Jack for Make-a-Wish because he worked so hard with a speech therapist to get where he is today. Two years ago, Julie said, Jack was very hard to understand.
Diagnosed at 2 ½, Jack has a condition called tuberous sclerosis complex, a genetic disorder.
All people have tumor prevention genes that prevent tumor growth, but Jack’s are mutated. He has about 13 little tubers, resembling potato shoots, in different areas of his body. The tubers are benign, but they can grow and create problems so he has MRI’s regularly.
“Speech was the biggest challenge for Jack,” Julie explained.
Seizures wiped out his ability to speak when a tuber grew in the part of his brain controlling speech.
“In preschool, he literally could not speak,” Julie said.
Now his brain has developed a new pathway around the tuber.
Although the Make-a-Wish trip was amazing, school is good according to Jack. He attends Linderman Elementary School and likes his teacher, Mrs. Bartel. Although all his friends are in different classes, they meet up at recess.
Jack and his best friend Isaac play a lot of games, like Star Wars.
“I have two light sabers,” Jack noted, adding that he likes to be Darth Vader.
“Cognitively, he’s right on track,” Julie added, “and academically he’s gaining on them (his classmates.)”
