With his infectious smile, Ayden Ugo-Alum raised his arms in the air as he walked arm in arm with his mom, Shawntell Manning, and his twin sister Aya.
It was the morning of Aug. 5 and he had just walked into his Make-A-Wish held at the Bordentown Elks Lodge No. 2085 to have the entire community celebrate he and his sister’s 10th birthday with all his favorites.
Along with his family and friends, members of the Bordentown Elks Lodge, members of Make-A-Wish New Jersey, Bordentown Township Mayor Eugene Fuzy, members of the Bordentown Township Police Department, fire department, New Jersey State Police and community members were on hand to make his wish a reality.
“When our chapter started over 40 years ago, we had one mission in mind and that was to create life changing changes for kids with critical illnesses and that is exactly why we are here today,” said Nicole Rivera, who is vice president of Mission Delivery for Make-A-Wish New Jersey and has been making wishes possible for three years.
“We are here because of this young boy Ayden. Our team had the pleasure of meeting Ayden just a brief time ago when we invited him to our home, the Samuel & Josephine Plumeri Wishing Place, that we affectionally like to call it, the castle (in Monroe Township, Middlesex County).
“Ayden welcomed us with a huge hug,” Rivera recalled. “He declared his fondest wish would be to host a party for his community and thank them for all that they have done for him and his family.
“Ayden I’m here today to tell you, your wish is going to be granted.”
With the news, Ayden happily smiled and clapped.
Fuzy presented Ayden with a township proclamation as well as a key to the township.
“The township received a call from Make-A-Wish Foundation New Jersey and we are thrilled to make this wish a reality,” he said. “Through the efforts of Make-A-Wish New Jersey, the Bordentown Elks, who did a lot of the heavy lifting and the township, this day was made possible.”
Fuzy noted they put in a special weather request to keep the rain away for the rest of the week. The day turned out to be a great weather day for the celebration.
The mayor read the proclamation, which noted Ayden and Aya will be attending fifth grade this fall. He lives with his family in Bordentown Township. Ayden had attended Peter Muschal Elementary School and recently transferred to McFarland Intermediate School to better fit his special needs towards the end of school year where he has excelled with great improvement in his academics.
“Ayden attends summer camp dedicated to children with disabilities and he has made a drastic improvement and continues to be very motivated to excel,” the proclamation states.
Last April, Ayden was diagnosed with Cerebral Adrenoleukodystrophy (ALD) a rare non-curable genetic brain disease, that doctors say will quickly take his vision, hearing, mobility, and ultimately his life.
Manning said they were on vacation when he had a seizure.
“The hospital we initially took him could not serve him, so we had to airlift him to another hospital a long ways away on helicopter in order to get him to the right care,” she recalled.
It was “the right place at the right time” that the physician that cared for her son, is one of seven physicians in the world who specializes in Ayden’s rare disease.
“He was in direct care at the hospital in Salt Lake City,” Manning said. “We were so very incredibly blessed that Ayden was in his care at the time and he quickly diagnosed him. We were placed in a situation where he is doing so well now thankfully because of the medical attention that he received so quickly and then on top of that, the support of the community has enabled us to continue to give him the best care so that he can continue thriving as he is today.”
Manning said she could not give enough thanks to the medical community, and the Bordentown Township community as a whole for making the day possible for Ayden and his sister.
Before everyone headed outside for all the fun that included a gaming truck, food, sweet treats, bounce houses, and more that was set up outside the lodge, Rivera said she had to know, “Where does Ayden get his infectious personality?”
“A lot of times we are raised as the product of our environment and I know my parents have been an immeasurable support, they have really been there as well as our family … he gets it from his family,” Manning said with a smile.
Icing Smiles Inc., which is a nationwide nonprofit organization that delivers dream cakes at no charge to kids impacted by critical illness, donated dream cakes for Ayden and his sister on their special day. The crowd sang a rendition of “Happy Birthday” and Ayden and Aya made a wish and blew out their birthday candles.
Make-A-Wish New Jersey was founded in 1983. Serving children in every municipality in the Garden State, Make-A-Wish New Jersey has granted over 12,500 wishes since its inception. For more information about Make-A-Wish New Jersey, call 800-252-WISH or visit nj.wish.org and discover how you can help transform lives, one wish at a time.
