ѻý

Skip to content

Kelowna family gets wish

Liam Lauinger was diagnosed with cancer when he was nine years old.
web1_1703140-KCN-wish-family
Amber Biglow, Logan Lauinger, seven, Liam Lauinger, 12 and Shilo Lauinger, will be visiting Grey Wolf Lodge next year thanks to the Childrenѻýs Wish Foundation. - Image Credit: Photo Contributed

March is Childrenѻýs Wish Month, and one special Kelowna family is getting their wish granted to experience water slides, Canadaѻýs Wonderland and Niagara Falls.

Liam Lauinger was diagnosed with osteosarcoma, the same cancer Terry Fox had, when he was nine.

ѻýWe had amazing doctors and were able to save his leg,ѻý said mother Amber Biglow.

Now 12, cancer free, and attending Rutland Middle School, things are looking up for Lauinger and his family, despite minor setbacks with his recovering leg.

His wish is to stay somewhere in Canada because ѻýitѻýs too hot in Florida,ѻý he said.

Biglow described Liam as a fish, always loving the water, which is why Lauinger wants to spend time at Great Wolf Lodge in Toronto.

Biglow sees the trip as a means to end the chapter on a difficult part in the familyѻýs life.

ѻýWeѻýre hoping heѻýs just able to get away from it all for a while,ѻý she said.

The family is having their wish granted by the Childrenѻýs Wish Foundation.

ѻýI think for me itѻýs kind of recognition for what heѻýs been through,ѻý said Biglow. ѻýThese kids who get these wishes, theyѻýre going through something that as adults, itѻýs so hard to imagine. When I see him getting to pick this itѻýs kind of like the world is saying to him ѻýyou know what, we realize what youѻýve gone through and we have your back.ѻý Heѻýs gone through so much. Itѻýs changed how his life is.ѻý

Lauinger will travel to Toronto in June, 2018 with his seven-year-old sister Logan Lauinger, father Shilo Lauinger and Biglow.

To celebrate Childrenѻýs Wish Month, Pacific Blue Cross has teamed up with the B.C. and Yukon chapter of the Childrenѻýs Wish Foundation of Canada to launch the Text Bluewish campaign.

In the past five years, the wishes of 14 Kelowna children fighting life-threatening illnesses have been granted. But there are 11 pending wishes to make a reality.

The fastest way for community members to donate to help grant wishes is by texting BLUEWISH to 80100 to give $5, $10 or $20. Donations can also be made at textbluewish.ca. Pacific Blue Cross will match donations to help reach a goal of $10,000 ѻý the average cost of a wish.