SAN ANTONIO — Families flocked to San Antonio from all over the country to get “wild for wishes" this week.
After suffering most of her life with pancreatitis, spending more than 1,000 days in the hospital, having five major organs removed and enduring countless near-death experiences, 16-year-old Rebecca Taylor’s wish has been to provide hope to others affected by the painful disease.
More than a thousand people from around the country are expected to stampede to San Antonio Zoo Saturday in response to Rebecca’s wish. Several members of that herd were children affected by pancreatitis.
“It is the first charity of its kind in the world to be able to specifically help these children with a disease path that affects over 100,000 children in the United States a year,” said Christyn Taylor, Rebecca’s mother.
Rebecca’s wish hopes the Wild for Wishes event will provide comfort for families affected by the disease and assist with raising funds through auctions to bring the first pediatric endoscopic doctor to San Antonio to treat pancreatitis in children. Taylor told her mother she was fully committed to attending her event despite her condition.
“Rebecca really has struggled honestly the last couple of months,” her mother said. “We just got out of the hospital after a five-week stay, but she has an electric scooter with her name on it, and a doctor escort and a nurse escort that will be with her tomorrow night.
"What has kept her going to make her so excited this entire time has truly been to think about this zoo, and she kept saying over and over how many kids she could help by being there. So she will be here regardless of her health.”
Event plans detailed a list of family activities, including live bands, face-painting, giraffe-feeding and tug-o-wars with lions.
For more information about Rebecca's wish, click here. To support this cause, click here.