by Matt Hughes
J-E NEWS EDITOR
On Friday, December 20, 2013, one very special student at Providence Elementary School got an equally special present.
On Friday Providence students gathered in the gymnasium to celebrate with five-year-old Laila Grimes-Lawrence before she left on a very special trip. Thanks to the Make-A-Wish program, Laila will spend the Christmas holiday celebrating at Walt Disney World Resort in Florida, and will have the chance meet Princess Tiana, star of the Disney movie The Princess and the Frog.
This young lady is battling a life threatening disorder known as Aicardi syndrome.
Aicardi syndrome is a rare genetic disorder identified by the French Neurologist, Dr. Jean Aicardi in 1965. The number of identified cases of children with Aicardi syndrome is very difficult to calculate accurately. Several hundred have officially been reported, and one according to aicardisyndrome.org, one study estimates at least 800 cases in the US, and several thousand worldwide.
Aicardi syndrome only affects females, except in very rare cases, where it strikes males with Klinefelter syndrome.
“Make-A-Wish grants wishes for children between the ages of 2 1/2 and 18 who currently have a life-threatening illness which is defined as progressive, degenerative or malignant medical condition that has placed the child’s life in jeopardy,” said wish grantor Allen Dixon. “A majority of our courageous Wish Children” will live long and fulfilled lives.”
A limo picked up Laila, along with her mother and sister at Providence Elementary School and transported them to the airport in Nashville. From there they will fly to Orlando, Florida where they will spend the next week.
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