Teenage Cancer Patient’s Wish Granted — A Boat
Last Wednesday morning, a small parade wove its way through Niantic, Conn., led by vehicles from the coastal town’s fire department. At the tail end of the procession was a boat that was being delivered to a worthy recipient. Ben Orefice is a 17-year high-school junior who was diagnosed with Stage 3 Hodgkin’s Lymphoma last January. The boat was delivered by the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
A Tough Start to 2020
A football player at East Lyme High School, Orefice had sustained a concussion playing football in November 2019. In January, he still wasn’t feeling right, so he went to the doctor. That’s when he found out he had swollen lymph nodes.
He underwent five rounds of chemotherapy, each lasting four days, and the misery that comes with them including nausea, fatigue and hair loss. As if that wasn’t enough, the Coronavirus hit.
Make a Wish
April 29 was also World Wish Day, which marks the 40th anniversary of Make-A-Wish, which has granted about 300,000 wishes for critically ill children since its inception. The foundation approached Orefice a few weeks ago. Given the state of his health and the presence of COVID-19, he looked ahead to the summer of 2020. Being a shoreline kid, he wished for a boat.
Make-A-Wish took it from there, finding a 14’6” (4.42 m) Maritime 1480 Sport Skiff with an outboard motor at Atlantic Outboard in Westbrook, Conn. The owners, Tasha and Paul Cusson, didn’t hesitate when the request was made.
Looking Up
With the treatments behind him, Orefice, who has a twin brother and older sister, will undergo testing on May 18. If all goes well, he could be declared in remission.
On Wednesday afternoon, Ben Orefice and his father Charles needed a break from sheltering in and were getting ready to go for a drive when the unexpected happened. A firetruck, a dozen cars and a truck towing a boat behind it pulled up in front of his house.
One of the firefighters said simply, “Here you go kid.”
After looking at the boat and slowly understanding that it was actually his, Orefice said, “Right about now is when I’m starting to get back to being normal.”
