Sports

Make-a-Wish Sends Scotts Valley Teen to Olympics

Erick Murai was diagnosed with Leukemia two years ago and now his wish to go to the Olympics is coming true.

Sometimes wishes do come true. And for Scotts Valley teen Erick Murai, his wish come true is a big one.

Murai, 18, who was diagnosed with leukemia two years ago, is going to the Olympics thanks to the Make-a-Wish Foundation. Erick, along with his father and younger brother will leave for London on July 31 for a week of watching world-class athletes compete in the biggest games in the world.

“We are really excited,” Erick said. “We didn’t actually expect to be able to go.”

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Erick says he was first approached by representatives from the foundation about a year ago when he was still in the hospital. He was told he was going to be granted a wish so he got to thinking.

“When they first told him he was eligible to make a wish, they told him to think big,” said Jean Murai, Erick’s grandmother. “He thought about it a while and he was thinking big.”

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Erick, a football and basketball player at Scotts Valley High School, said that he knew he wanted the wish to have something to do with travelling and sports. Since it was football season when he was first told about the wish, he began to think about maybe attending a college bowl game or even the Super Bowl. But at that time, he was still in the hospital and wasn’t able to travel so he had to think further out.

“That’s when I realized that the Olympics where coming up this summer and I thought it would be really nice to go if we could,” he said.

Every four years, Erick said he and his family watch the Olympics together and he especially likes the basketball games.

“I said I wanted to see basketball for sure,” Erick said. “We don’t know yet if we are going to be able to see other sports. They haven’t told us what we are going to be able to see but it would be cool to see track with all the sprinters and swimming with Michael Phelps too.”

The Make-a-Wish Foundation, which has granted 224,008 wishes or one every 38 minutes since it began in 1980, is sending 42 kids from the U.S. and 11 from other countries to this year’s Olympic Games, and each child’s experience is tailored as much as possible to what that child wants to see, so events will vary for each one.

For Erick, the experience will be doubly special because it will be his first time travelling out of the country and he plans to really enjoy it and take in all the sights of London.

“We really want to take our time and see everything,” Erick said.

Erick is now in remission from his cancer but he still must take medication daily and make monthly trips for maintenance treatment to Lucille Packard Children’s Hospital in Palo Alto for the next two and a half years. Overall though, his grandmother says he is doing pretty well right now and really excited about the upcoming trip.

“This is such a wonderful opportunity for him,” Jean Murai said. “It’s nice to have something to look forward to, especially when you’ve been sick for a long time.”

Erick said he is really thankful for the Make-a-Wish foundation and thinks the work they do is really great.

“It’s pretty great to have Make-a-Wish because we are able to do things we wouldn’t normally be able to do,” Erick said. “It means quite a bit, and especially that I am well enough to go see the Olympics. It’s pretty amazing.”


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