Wish Stories

Fourteen-year-old Sarah had her own studio experience in the country music capital, Nashville, Tennessee, following in the footsteps of her favorite artists, Carrie Underwood and Taylor Swift.

The Worthington, Ohio, teen suffers from spinal muscular atrophy, a motor neuron disease that affects the voluntary muscles used for movements such as walking. Yet, her condition hasn’t affected her spirit and her passion for music.

When Make-A-Wish^® volunteers asked her what her one true wish was, Sarah knew that she wanted to put her heartfelt songs on a professionally made CD.

The Foundation arranged to send Sarah and her family to a recording studio in Nashville where the professionals could help Sarah refine and record her songs.

Once Sarah arrived in Nashville, she was greeted by a large yellow sign and a team of professional songwriters and musicians.

That team helped Sarah to pick a song to record. Sarah picked “Let Me Go Back” – a song she wrote about Muscular Dystrophy Association camp. Sarah says she likes MDA camp because everyone there has a disability and no one is different. According to her song, “wheelchairs are the bomb!”

After camp this summer, Sarah turned her feelings into a song. The studio helped Sarah polish the song written one night out of boredom into a radio-ready song.

“They really made her feel like she’s a star,” Sarah’s mother, Susan, said. “Everyone was so generous with their time and expertise. She was grinning from ear-to-ear all week.”

Susan said she also loved how the Foundation made the trip so seamless, taking care of all the little details.

Sarah’s favorite part of the trip was hearing the finished song, but she said she also loved how everyone in Nashville was so nice and that the city was so accessible.

“I felt like I fit there,” she said. She said she wants to move to city where her wish came true.

And Sarah even looked like a local after she went boot shopping with her family and purchased a pair of pink cowboy boots!

The family also toured the Country Music Hall of Fame, visited the Grand Ole Opry and attended a dinner show on the General Jackson Showboat Cruise.

“It was definitely a once-in-a-lifetime adventure,” Susan shared. “We just couldn’t stop smiling.”

Sarah’s wish certainly was an adventure, bringing countless smiles to her face and many happy memories to cherish for a lifetime. She and her family had a much-needed vacation from her exhausting medical concerns, and now Sarah’s wish can serve as a beacon of hope for all.

Check out Sarah’s song, Let Me Go Back, and a video from her wish experience below.

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