GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — When Lily Pawlanta walked into Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital on Wednesday afternoon, she thought she was going in for one of her usual doctor's appointments. However, when she walked down to the cafeteria, she was greeted with cheers.
Dozens of staff members with Helen DeVos lined a blue carpet, clapping and cheering for Lily as she walked by.
“What happened when we walked in here? What did they do?” mom Mindy asked Lily. “Showed us the surprise,” Lily answered.
When 10yo Lily arrived at @devoschildrens Hospital today she thought she was going in for one of her usual doctor appointments. Within minutes she learned she’s headed to the most magical place on earth: Disney World.
— Lauren Edwards (@LaurenEdwardsTV) March 22, 2023
It’s all thanks to @MakeAWish 🪄@FOX17 pic.twitter.com/mpUT139gzO
Lily jumped up and down as she walked toward the stage. When Make-A-Wish asked her who her favorite princess was, she said “Belle” without hesitation.
Then, her wish coordinator Rachel surprised her with a few gifts, which included a Disney princess outfit and an autograph book.
“Our other surprise,” Rachel said. “is you get to go to Disney next week.”
Lily’s eyes grew big as she placed her hand over her mouth in disbelief.
Mindy was excited.
“We’ve, kind of as a family, some of us have known this was happening,” Mindy said. “I’m very very excited to see her reaction to all of it.”
"Lily has a seizure disorder and has been seeing an epilepsy team, which consists of nurses, speech therapists and neuro-psychologists, since she was two years old," said neurosurgeon Dr. Michael Bercu.
Lily’s dad Chris said the care at the hospital has been amazing.
“They fawn over all the kids here,” Chris said. “Just the care, they’re always checking up. They always got fun games. They’re polite as can be. For what it’s worth, it’s a great place to come to.”
Over the last few years, Lily has been meeting with Dr. Bercu regularly. He said she has major surgery coming up. However, he’s grateful she gets to take the Disney trip first to take her mind off of things.
The first thing Lily said she’s going to do is meet all the Disney princesses.
“We’re all very excited to go,” Mindy said. “Take that break from everything that we’ve been doing with her lately and just enjoy some downtime as a family, doing something she’s super excited about.”
