THUNDER BAY - For the last three years, seven-year-old Ryder Hutton has been on a difficult journey, bravely battling a dangerous illness. But now with that behind him, he is ready to go on another journey.
“I’m excited to go,” Ryder said. “I’ve never been on the roller coasters before.”
Ryder and his family will be travelling to Disney World for a much needed getaway after Ryder completed his last treatment for Leukemia only one month ago.
“It’s been over three years since we started this crazy journey when he first got sick,” said Ryder’s mother, Michelle. “He just completed his treatment a month or so ago. It has been a long three years and went through a lot, he definitely deserves something fun.”
The trip was one of Ryder’s wishes, and on Saturday, he learned that that wish was being granted by the Make a Wish Foundation.
“He was thinking about it all morning, thinking about which one was it going to be,” Michelle said. “He is a pretty low key kid, but he is definitely excited.”
The wish was revealed at Maple Tops with family and friends, balloons, and a cake. Michelle said a trip to Disney World was one of Ryder’s wishes because he may want to follow in his mother’s footsteps.
“He has seen lots of pictures of when I went to Disney World as a kid,” Michelle said. “So grandma and grandpa have showed him pictures, and he’s heard of friends from school going to Disney World and the rides and just the fun of it.”
And as fun as it will be for the entire family to get away and have some fun on the rides and out in the sun, not only is this trip celebrating Ryder's challenging journey of facing Leukemia, it will also offer a little more.
“I want to see my grandma and grandpa because they go to Florida for the winter,” Ryder said.
