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Kandi and Mark Bailey don’t
see themselves as heroes. Helping make wishes
come true for children with life-threatening ill
nesses has become a source cf joy for the North
Plane. Neb., (pop. 23,878) couple.
'lt's the kids who are the heroes," Kandi
says. “The children who have to go through the
pain and the chemo and the needles. They 're the
real heroes."
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Helping ™ e e y
_ VVishes
Come True
The Baileys know that pain. Their own son.
Garrett, died ot'a brain tumor at the age of 3 . Gar
rett s wish, a trip to Disneyland, was granted by
the Make-A-Wish Foundation shortly before his
death and the Baileys will never forget the joyful
moments of that trip. They have dedicated their
lives since Garrett s death to ensuring other chil
dren and their families have the opportunity to
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Th® Baileys with athlete and long-term cancer survivor Matt Elder.
When Make-A-Wish of Nebraska called the Baileys in 1989, they
agreed to volunteer as wish grantee.
When they asked us to volunteer, we decided to do it for Garrett,”
Mark says. “It was important that something positive came out of this.
We kept hearing all the negatives. We kept hearing things like mar
riages end after the death of a child, or the family will never be the same.
For me, thacs a big part of why we do this. To make it positive. I think
Kandi and I have become stronger for it.”
The first wish they worked on was for Matt Elder, a 3-year-old Pax
ton, Neb., boy with cancer Matt wanted to go to Disneyworld and the
similarities were not lost on the Baileys.
It was very difficult in the early stages, because we were dealing with
our own grief," Marie says.
Kandi agrees, “I remember thinking. If he's blonde, I don't know if
I can do this,’ but when we got there. Matt was so excited. He made it
easy. Its very rewarding to see a child so happy when you know they’ve
been through so much pain.”
Evonne Williams, president of Make-A-Wish of Nebraska, says the
Baileys are a wonderful example of the kind and caring hearts of volun
teers statewide. Wishes have been granted to nearly 50 children since the
Baileys helped form the organizations North Plane chapter.
We don tdo this alone, Kandi insists. "We have a great core of vol
unteers in this area, most of them are wish parents themselves.”
Thar first wish, for Man, has become a great source of joy. Man's can
cer went into remission and never returned. He has recently been
declared a long-term survivor and the Baileys have had the opportunity
to watch him play basketball with the Paxton High School Tigers.
“I think its important that people
realize this isn't always sad.' Mark says. For mat* information on
"People think we re granting a last the Moira A Whli Foundo
request, bur that’s not what Make-A- don, log onto nvma.wUb.un
Wish is about. or aril (SOO) 722-9474.
Betsy Elder, Man's mother; agrees.
“When they first contacted me about Mans wish I thought. They must
think he's going to die.’ It was frightening, but it's not about death, it’s
about happiness. It's a way for the family to stop thinking about doctors
and treatments and illness and just be a family again for a little while.
The wish is for the child, but it’s a gift to the family as well. ”
After granting the most important wishes of dozens of children—
from a jet ski to a shopping spree and a horse and saddle to a chance to
swim with dolphins—the Baileys have no plans to stop their volunteer
work. Still, they insist they’re not heroes.
“Like Kandi said, the kids are the heroes,” Mark says, “but
the people are heroes, too. All the people who donate to Make-
A-Wish to help make this possible. They're also heroes. All we
do is bring the two together.”
Robin E. Shirley is a freelance uriter in North Platte. Neb.