Three-year-old Nora who suffers from a brain tumor spent a magical week at Walt Disney World® Resorts with her family. Wishes are an important part of a child’s health care journey. Wishes can help children feel better and give them the hope and strength they need to fight – and even overcome – a critical illness. It’s why health professionals use a wish as part of their treatment plan.

When children are battling a critical illness, so much of normal childhood is taken away from them — it is exhausting, both emotionally and physically. A wish is something that gives kids the opportunity to look outside their illness — it restores a sense of childhood back to the child and normalcy back to the family.

Research shows, and physicians agree, wishes can help improve a child's quality of life and produce better health outcomes. Members of the Make-A-Wish Medical Advisory Council share the life-changing impact wishes have — beyond just medicine — on their patients and their families.

It isn't always necessary to cure in order to heal.

James B. Fahner, MD, FAAP Member, Make-A-Wish Medical Advisory Council