The video features a testimonial interview with Ayla Stewart, an 8½‑year‑old diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) at age 5½, her parent (Speaker A), and a Children’s Wish Foundation representative (Speaker C). The parent describes the shock, denial, and fear following the diagnosis, the grueling 30‑month treatment, and the relief of being 10 months cancer‑free. The foundation representative explains the organization’s 30‑year history of granting wishes, its scale (≈1,100 wishes per year), and the dedication of its staff, who work irregular hours yet maintain a “perma‑smile.” The wish granted to Ayla was a trip to Disney World to meet princesses, which she describes as exciting and uplifting, helping her feel better and restoring a sense of normalcy for the whole family. The narrative underscores the emotional toll of childhood cancer, the therapeutic value of wish‑granting, and the compassionate culture of the Children’s Wish Foundation.
Chapters
When me and my wife first heard that our daughter Ayla was diagnosed with cancer, man, you can't explain it. It's like you're first in shock and you're in denial, and then it sucks you back in and you're scared to death.
My name is Ayla Stewart. I'm 8 and a half years old. My diagnosis was leukemia ALL. I didn't know very much about it, and I started getting sick, and so I started not feeling good.
Nayla was a trooper. Man, she was so strong. What that kid went through. She was diagnosed when she was 5 and a half years old, and she went through 30 months of treatment. I would never believe that cancer treatment would be 30 months long. Oh, because if I take a break, it's not real. And I want people to see how real this is. She's 10 months cancer-free right now.
Children's Wish Foundation is about creating magic and memories for some very sick children and their families, and we've been granting wishes 30+ years. We grant close to 1,100 wishes a year in this country. You know, I've been with Children's Wish for over 20 years, and I've never ever woken up where I didn't want to go to work because each and every single day We are putting a smile on a child's face, and it's not just about the child, it's about the entire family experience that, that Children's Wish works so hard to do.
You know what I can say is that I've honestly never seen a person that worked for this organization that didn't have a PermaSmile, and that's hard to say about a job. It's still a job. These people are doing work. They're still grinding it out. And the hours aren't normal because events take place evenings, weekends.
Ayla was so excited to know that she could have any wish in the world, but she wanted to go to Disney World to see the princesses. And there is just something about that little girl and the whole entire family that just makes it so special.
I felt very excited, and I felt like— I felt better. And that I would have— I would get to see all the real princesses and stuff.
When you find out you're getting a wish, and once we found out too, like, any child with a life-threatening illness gets a wish. There's no, like, crazy application, and there's no random draw. Like, it's just amazing that there's an organization like the Children's Wish Foundation that any kid that has a life-threatening illness between certain ages gets a wish. The girls started dreaming, you know, about princesses and dresses and kept Ayla's mind off her treatments. It gave us something to look forward to, like a light at the end of the tunnel. You know, the nice thing about our situation that Ayla progressed really well through her treatments, that, you know, we could wait till she was healthy to go on her wish, and that wasn't a problem. We didn't have to take the wish during her actual treatments, so we didn't have to have a nurse around us. You know, the anticipation The anticipation of the Wish, yeah, they, you know, especially when it was getting close to the trip, the kids were like, "We can't sleep tonight, we can't sleep, we can't think about nothing but Disney and the Wish." And, you know, it was pretty cool. Our old Ayla's back, you know. She just wants to be a regular kid.
