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08/01/08 - Making A Wish Come True

The smile on little Mitchell Warner’s face said it all. After six months of treatment and 20 hits of radiation to treat a malignant muscle tumor on his eye, Mitchell was in remission and granted a wish by the good people of the Starlight Foundations Make A Wish Program. Mitchell wanted a motorcycle and to learn how to ride it.

The wish became a reality when Mitchell was surprised to turn up at the Reedy Creek Motocross track on the Gold Coast with a brand new KLX110 and a set of Fox gear waiting for him. Not only that, Chris Urquhart cleared his day to help get the budding Chad Reed started.

I can’t believe I get to keep the bike and gear. I can’t wait to ride it more and be able to do big jumps like Chris," Mitchell said excitedly after his first few laps on the bike with Chris.
"We really appreciate what the Starlight Foundation Make A Wish Program and everyone involved has done for Mitchell and our family," says his father Rod. After the day spent with Chris our lawn will never be the same. As soon as we got home he began tearing it up and despite a few crashes, he dusted himself off and jumped right back on. It has been an amazing day," he finishes.

And Urquhart was more then impressed with how fast the little tacker had picked up the skills to ride a motorcycle.

"Within two hours he was able to stand up, change gears and ride complete laps of the Reedy Creek circuit. That is pretty amazing seeing he had only ridden a push bike before and the Reedy Creek track can be pretty daunting for first timers."

Mitchell’s story began in late 2006 when he noticed a lump on his eyelid. Within six weeks it had grown to the size of his eyeball and it was surgically removed. It was then doctors diagnosed Mitchell with having Embroyonel Rhabdomysarcoma. Tests immediately begun to see if the tumor had spread through his body and then came six months of weekly chemotherapy and 20 days of radiation. His treatment ended in May 2007.

Mitchell is now in remission but will to have on going MRI’s and chest X-rays for the next five years. He is regaining strength and stamina every day and his hobbies of playing X-Box, karate and In-line hockey have been replaced with a dirt bike habit.

The Starlight Foundation Make A Wish Program makes dreams come true for little guys like Mitchell everyday. The Warner Family can’t thank them enough for the day they have given Mitchell and their work continues with thousands of other just like him.

Pics - Chris giving Mitch a few tips on how to ride his new bike.

Credit - Daniel Mckenzie