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May 20, 2003
Hollyood Hero
Hollywood celebrities don't have the best of reputations. From drug abuse to sex scandals to actors who use their status to publicize their wayward views it is difficult to find stories about the good that can be done.
This is one of those stories.
Little Jonny is like any other young boy. He loves to play basketball and hang out with his friends in Arizona. Some would even say he's a lucky kid because, during the summers, he gets to go to the Big Island of Hawai'i to spend time with his grandparents.
Five years ago, when he turned nine, he found out he had rare disease called adrenoleukodystrophy. Some of you may recognize the disease as the one portrayed in the 1993 movie "Lorenzo's Oil." The disease is characterized by a degeneration of the myelin sheath on nerve fibers in the brain which leads to progressive neurological disability.
Jonny knew he did not have a lot of time left on this earth but before his time was up, he wanted to do one thing. Meet a Hollywood star. Not just any star, but one that seemed to like kids because he seemed so much to be one himself. So his parents contacted the "Make a Wish Foundation." The Foundation's mission is to "grant the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions to enrich the human experience with hope, strength, and joy."
But this disease acts so quickly that time was rapidly running out on Jonny and it didn't look like the Foundation would be able to make this little guy's wish come true. However, they were able to arrange for Jonny's second wish of seeing an Arizona Cardinals - Dallas Cowboys National Football League game.
But news of the boy's first wish somehow made it to the star. He was so moved by the story that he paid for all the expenses of flying Jonny and his mother to Culver City, California where he was filming a movie. When Jonny arrived on set, the star shut down production for the day and spent time playing basketball and doing other stuff Jonny wanted to do.
By this time, the disease had progressed to a point where Jonny couldn't hear, but the star used a pad of paper and wrote down everything he wanted to say to Jonny. Needless to say, that one day meant more to Jonny than almost any other day in his too short life.
This actor didn't need to do what he did and he certainly didn't do it for the publicity because he made sure there wasn't any. If it wasn't for the boy's grandfather telling the story, no one outside of the family would have known.
The day ended all to quickly and Jonny had to return home. But the star kept in touch with the family via letters over the next few months. And then the day came that all knew would be coming. The disease that had already taken Jonny's hearing, and then his eye sight, also took his life.
Upon getting the news of this, the star wrote one last heartfelt two-page letter to Jonny's grieving parents. We don't know for sure what the letter says but one could guess he tried to give them support and peace. This, from a man who touched a boy's life but for one day.
The actor's name? Adam Sandler. Whatever his faults and whatever his skills as an actor may be, the world could use a few more heroes like him.
Aloha!
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