Little girl’s special wish to come true

By Sarah Schwager
AN 11-year-old girl who is slowly losing her sight is having her special wish granted.
The Starlight Children’s Foundation is donating a wish to Kiana along with other seriously ill children suffering from a terminal, chronic or critical illness.
She will be one of many sick children who will benefit from funds raised on Starlight Day next Friday, 4 May.
Kiana, 11, who comes from Blind Bight, has congenital cataracts and glaucoma, which developed after being born with persistent hyperplastic primary vitreous (PHPV), meaning when she was in the womb not all parts of her eyes developed normally.
Her mother Mandy, who did not wish to give her surname, said she had had a virus for 16 weeks of her pregnancy, which may have caused the condition.
She said there were only 1000 people in the world that had the condition in both eyes.
It is likely Kiana will have to have both eyes removed. The retina on her right eye has already detached and she can only see a very little out of the left eye.
“She is so brave. She never complains. She is just so easy,” Mandy said.
“When the Starlight wish fairy first visited, Kiana said she wanted the Toy Story video. The fairy said no, that she could have something really special so Kiana asked for Toy Story 2 as well. The fairy said she’d come back when Kiana had had a proper think about it.”
Starlight currently grants up to 600 special wishes a year. Each wish costs $5000.
Kiana hopes to go on a holiday to Tasmania, the Gold Coast or Western Australia with her family, with her only wish for herself to swim with the dolphins.
Mandy said her daughter really wanted to do something that involved the whole family, especially her older brothers.
“I told the boys there’s no way they would have done the same thing. They would have asked for something just for them,” she said.
Kiana has three brothers 17, 14 and five years old.
Kiana said she did not enjoy her frequent visits to the Royal Children’s Hospital.
“I always have to wait a long time and then they do these tests that hurt my eyes.”
She said she was really looking forward to having a guide dog.
The grade four Pearcedale Primary School student loves maths, Bratz dolls and playing with her friends.
She is learning Braille at school from a visiting teacher and also has an aide with her in class.
“I have a nice big group of friends who are really understanding and caring,” she said. “If I’m not there they’ll always come and find me.”
Mandy said she found it much more difficult to cope than her daughter.
“I just get upset because I foresee things,” she said. “My big fear is the day that I have to hand her over to a guide dog.”
She said she was rapt the family would most likely be going on a holiday.
“Every one of my kids deserves this,” she said. “I can’t wait to see the smiles on their faces.”
To donate to Starlight or for more information call 9663 3300 or visit www.starlight.org.au.