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Local young adult Corbin Wright received the surprise of a lifetime last week when he received a golf cart from the Make A Wish foundation.

Corbin suffers from chronic severe epilepsy which causes him to have multiple Myoclonic seizures a day. This comes with an added risk factor for Corbin, a condition called SUDEP which stands for Sudden Death Due to Epilepsy.

Along with his severe epilepsy, Corbin is also autistic and nonverbal.

Corbin’s mom, Ginger Wright, says that she knew a golf cart would be the perfect wish for her son after they visited a special needs camp and he enjoyed riding the golf cart more than any of the other activities,

“For 8 years, every time we attended Camp Celebrate Corbin would wake up in the morning and the first thing he would ask for is a golf cart ride.” Wright said.

Wright applied for her son’s wish back in 2020 but Covid had an effect on the overall process. Wright said they did zoom interviews to determine Corbin’s wish,

“The Wish team got together and asked what his Make a Wish would be, but of course he’s nonverbal so it was up to us figure out what would make him happy,” Wright said.

Wright said with Covid slowing everything down and delaying the process, it just made this even more of a surprise for Corbin.

“I know the traditional thing is Disney trips, but he would be overwhelmed with the crowds. But we go to this disability camp and the only thing he ever wanted to do is ride the golf cart, so when they asked, I said how about a golf cart? They said that sounds great! Things were a little crazy due to covid, so I didn’t hear anything for 3 years but then I got a phone call in the spring saying it’s ready!” Wright said, “They called us in the spring, said it would be soon, and then they brought it to us,

“Every day since then he goes for a ride.” Wright said

Make A Wish President and CEO of the East Tennessee chapter, Garrett Wagley says seeing the joy the wishes bring the children and families is what the job is all about,

“It’s really special, it’s the most rewarding work I’ve ever done.” Wagley said.

Wagley says he wants people to know that the wishes they grant aren’t just last wishes, but lasting wishes,

“A lot of people think that we grant last wishes but about 80% of kids make it to adulthood. Medical technology has come a long way but we also know that wishes give hope and hope is so important in mental health.

“Make a Wish serves kids who have a critical illness, we don’t just grant wishes we grant lasting wishes for any child that’s facing a really difficult medical situation. We know that the wish provides hope and something to look forward to and that makes a tremendous impact on their mental health. That in turn affects their physical health and helps them fight the condition and face the conditions. It brings the child a lot of joy but it’s also something the whole family can celebrate, it’s a distraction from the medical care and the disruption of life. We want the whole family to experience the joy that comes from a wish.” Wagley said.

It’s all due to the volunteers and donors that help make this possible for the children.

“Most people think of make a wish as this big national thing that works with Disney and WWE. We certainly do work with them but really part of make a wish is there are 58 local chapters across the county who really make the wishes come true. The East Tennessee chapter works with 36 counties and we work with local volunteers and local donors to make wishes happen. It’s about community and relationships and making sure that each wish is special, customized for that child.” Wagley said.

Wagley explains the process for granting a wish can take some time, but it’s only because they want to make sure the wish is completely customized to the individual child.

“We take referrals for critically ill children between 2 1/2 and 18. We have a process by which we qualify them, we talk to their medical providers and gather information and once they are determined that they qualify for Wish that starts the process. We schedule a Wish discovery meeting where the magic really starts to take place.” Wagley said.

Wagley says being able to grant Corbin’s customized wish was a special experience for the entire family,

“For Corbin he visited a camp every summer for kids that have conditions similar to his and he spent a lot of time riding the golf cart from activity to activity. More than the activities it was riding in the golf cart that he looked forward to the most. So now he and his family are going to be able to enjoy that experience any time he wants to. A couple of weeks ago we were able to come up and deliver Corbin’s cart and he was shocked and really happy and once his mom and family kind of coaxed him into the gold cart they couldn’t get him out of it.

“There’s nothing like seeing the wish come true, seeing the joy on the child’s face but also seeing the mom and dad and siblings. You can tell that they are just so happy to see the reaction and the smile and just the joy and overjoy that the child is getting from the whole wish experience.” Wagley said.