TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Trip May Be Her Best Medicine

Tribune photo by FRED BELLET

Leanna Leach, center, enjoys her bon voyage party Sunday with friends and family.

ADVERTISEMENT

By JULIA FERRANTE

The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 2, 2008

NEW PORT RICHEY - Like many 9-year-old girls going on 10, Leanna Leach is pretty much obsessed with "High School Musical."

She has seen the Disney movie and its sequel so many times she can recite the words to most of the songs, and her bed sheets and pillow cases are adorned with star Zach Efron's dreamy likeness.

But when it came to choosing her ultimate wish, meeting Efron lost out to another desire: seeing Niagara Falls.

"It looks fun," Leanna said of the natural wonder.

Besides she said, if she met Efron, "I wouldn't want to leave."

Leanna's dream will begin to come true Saturday, when a stretch limo takes her and her family to the airport for a business class flight to Buffalo and a five-day trip to Niagara Falls. The Suncoast Make-A-Wish Foundation, a branch of the national group that grants wishes for children with life-threatening and terminal illnesses, has arranged for Leanna and five family members to stay at a hotel overlooking the falls and other attractions. The $5,600 trip will be paid for with donations from individuals and businesses.

Leanna has a life-threatening condition called pre-B acute lymphoblastic leukemia, also known as childhood leukemia. Chemotherapy gives her an 85 percent chance of staying in remission for five years, but the treatments also make her susceptible to infection, her mother, Toni, said.

Leanna found out in December her wish to go to Niagara Falls would be granted. Soon after, though, she contracted a bacterial infection that put her in a coma for three months. Leanna has neurological damage and was unable to walk or talk when she came out of the coma in March, her mom said. She is recovering and will need a hospital bed and wheelchair on her trip.

Make-a-Wish includes the family when granting wishes because "they are all involved in the illness," said Kristin Mayfield, regional director of the local Make-A-Wish Foundation.

Leanna got the idea to visit Niagara Falls while browsing the Internet with her mom's fiance, Tom Mitchell.

"We looked at a whole bunch of destinations, like the Grand Canyon, Seattle, San Francisco," Mitchell said. "She froze on Niagara Falls."

Wearing a purple lace dress and a bejeweled and feather tiara, Leanna, whose birthday is Thursday, was all smiles as Make-A-Wish volunteers Kyle Kummer and Robin Lum revealed her itinerary at a party Sunday at the Gulf Harbors Woodlands Yacht Club. About 50 friends and family members attended the bon voyage and birthday party, sharing pizza, soda and cake donated by local businesses.

This was the first wish Kummer and Lum have granted. Volunteers are trained to interview children in their homes so they can discover their heart-felt wishes with questions about their favorite books, actors and TV singers, and places they might want to go. There was no doubt Leanna wanted to go to Niagara Falls, Kummer said.

"She knew as soon as we walked in the door," Kummer said. "We had a hard time getting her to come up with backup wishes."

While in New York, Leanna and her family will have a chance to board the famed Maid of the Mist, which cozies up to the falls for a first-hand splash, and to ride a helicopter over the falls. They will have dinner at Applebee's and the Hard Rock Cafe and may visit the Aquarium of Niagara.

"We'll probably go on Maid of the Mist," Leanna said. The family likely will skip the helicopter ride, "cuz that sounds scary."

Going to Niagara Falls is not as popular a wish as meeting Efron, Mayfield said, although Hannah Montana's Mylie Cyrus is in more demand. Cyrus has suspended Make-A-Wish meetings while on tour and because she has such a long waiting list. Typically, celebrities meet groups of Make-A-Wish children.

The Suncoast Make-A-Wish Foundation has granted 115 wishes this fiscal year, which began Sept. 1, Mayfield said. The national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention determined the local branch had a 400-child "wish potential" based on the number of local children with life-threatening or terminal illnesses.

Children between 2 1/2 and 18 years old who have life-threatening or terminal illnesses are eligible. Children can refer themselves, or their parents or a physician can recommend they be considered. Wishes typically cost about $7,000.

To donate or volunteer, call Suncoast's regional office at (813) 288-2600.

Reporter Julia Ferrante can be reached at (813) 948-4220 or jferrante@tampatrib.com. Keyword: Leanna, to see more photos from Sunday's party.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT