A wish granted
Make-A-Wish foundation grants Texas High student’s wish
Photo by Anna Haley
Freshman Julian Lindley Jr. stands with Texas High student council and his family as they celebrate his wish finally being granted. This is moment he will never forget.
January 18, 2023
The aura of celebration encases the energetic gym as students and family alike rush toward the center to honor the triumph in a battle. Although hard fought, the battle has reached a high point: a cause for celebration.
Freshman Julian Lindley-Junior has been fighting brain cancer for many years. Lindley-Junior was contacted by the Make-A-Wish foundation in 2019, yet due to COVID-19 the wish had to be paused until January 2023.
“My wish was to meet – Steph Curry and Klay Thompson at a Golden State basketball game,” Lindley said. “I wished for it because I have never been to an NBA basketball game.”
At the time that the foundation contacted Lindley, he was in a far less hopeful state than today. In spite of that, Lindley-Junior pushed through and beat cancer into a remissive state.
“It has been an up & down battle. In the beginning, the chemotherapy and radiation was really rough, but now it has progressively gotten better,” Lindley-Junior said.
Motivation is a key factor in persisting in the fight against cancer. Lindley-Junior found this strong element in the family that he holds dear.
“My brothers and grandma have been a key motivator in my journey,” Lindley said. “When I was going through radiation and I didn’t want to get up or move, my brothers and granny kept pushing me to get up and do another day.”
Just as important as the wish itself are the people behind the foundation. Erin Walsh was the representative helping deliver the special moment.
“I wanted to give back to the community and love being around kids,” Walsh said. “I mean, it’s super exciting to at least get to be a little part of sunlight during a really dark journey.”
Ensuring the recipient’s happiness is of utmost importance to Walsh and the Make-A-Wish foundation. Therefore, achieving that goal is what fulfills Walsh.
“Making sure that they are as excited as possible for their wish to be granted is so important and ensuring that they have all the necessary tools so that they don’t have to worry about the logistics of the trip,” Walsh said. “They can just have fun and just be a kid because they’ve been deprived of being a kid for quite some time.”
Fighting Cancer is one of the most daunting tasks one can go through. Therefore, when asked what message Lindley wished to portray to the world, his response was integrated with the adage: “. . . to never give up,” Lindley said.
