KALAMAZOO, Mich. (WXMI) — Make-A-Wish Michigan granted the wish of a Kalamazoo teenager Tuesday who used this opportunity to pay it forward.
Seventeen-year-old Jude Boussom was once a patient at Bronson Children’s Hospital. He was diagnosed with brain cancer at just 14 years old.
Boussom is still receiving chemotherapy treatments and is expected to make a full recovery.
When he got the chance to have Make-A-Wish Michigan grant his wish, he asked for a Christmas-in-July event for the children currently undergoing treatment at Bronson.
“I just saw how hard it was being in the hospital and I just really wanted to make that experience better for all the other kids and just make it a little easier going through, like, the hard journey that they’re going through, battling a critical illness,” Boussom explained.
So on Tuesday, the playroom at the hospital was transformed into a holiday-themed space, where Boussom and Santa Claus brought holiday cheer to patients.
As part of his wish, Boussom will also host Christmas-in-July events at DeVos Children’s Hospital in Grand Rapids and C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital in Ann Arbor — and it doesn't end there.
“Even other hospitals… other states are thinking about doing this ,and just all the kids are going to be, now, happier,” Boussom said. “Hopefully, some of them will pay it forward and it’s just, I feel like this is just going to spread a lot of positivity.”
Make-A-Wish Michigan has granted more than 11,000 life-changing wishes to Michigan children with critical illnesses since 1984.
The organization serves children throughout the entire state and is funded through community support.
