Wings of hope carry dreams of ill children aloft

Rosa Ramirez, Rocky Mountain News

Published February 14, 2006 at midnight

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For about 30 minutes Monday, 9-year-old Robert Jackson could forget what got him a seat on a rainbow-colored Learjet.

As the plane flew over downtown Denver, he watched skyscrapers appear to shrink and clouds touch the wings.

"It was really cool. There were a lot of clouds," Robert said shortly after the ride in Dream Chaser III, which was painted neon orange, green, yellow, blue and red for the event.

Robert was one of 10 seriously ill young passengers who took off from Centennial Airport courtesy of Make- A-Wish Foundation of Colorado and Englewood-based International Jet Aviation, which donated the flight.

The flight was one of five planned this week to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Make-A-Wish Foundation, which has 71 chapters in the U.S. and its territories and 28 international affiliates, according to the organization's Web site. Another group of Colorado children will fly today from Colorado Springs Airport.

Robert's mother, Kim Jackson, 48, of Littleton, said that the organization gave her son not only a chance to fly on a jet, but also a chance to forget the realities of living with leukemia, even for a short time.

Since Robert was diagnosed with leukemia on Sept. 28, 2004, on his eighth birthday, he has undergone 225 shots of medication, his mother said. Robert has a quarter-size implant in his chest that sends chemotherapy to his main artery.

He has 18 months of treatment left.

"Robert has been very stoic through the whole process," his mother said, holding back tears.

Children between age 2 1/2 and 18 who have a life-threatening health condition are eligible to apply for a wish. The Colorado chapter grants between 180 and 200 wishes to sick children each year, more than 2,300 since the chapter began in 1983. There is no waiting list for the Colorado chapter.

At Centennial, the children joyously climbed the steps into Dream Chaser III, some leaving behind their wheelchairs and walking aids.

With a blue flower painted on her left cheek, 14-year-old Judy Krivanek waited with her sister, Carissa, 15, for their turn to board. Both were diagnosed with juvenile Huntington's disease, which affects the ability to think, feel or move. Children diagnosed with the illness have a 10-year life span, said their mother, Alyson Krivanek.

She hopes that a cure will be found soon. "We can't cure death," she said. "So, we're living all types of experiences and taking it day by day."

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