Dayonie’s Wish is a Constant Source of Joy and Togetherness for the Entire

Dayonie is described as a “fireball” with a vibrant personality and love for laughter. For fun, Dayonie enjoys spending time with his siblings, dancing, drawing, watching movies and making memories. But when Dayonie was only 5 years old, his entire life was turned upside down by a devastating cancer diagnosis.

“When we were told that he had cancer and needed emergency surgery, everything stopped,” said Daniel, Dayonie’s dad. “It was traumatic for our entire family ... Our 7-year-old thought he was going to lose his baby brother.”

When Dayonie woke up from surgery, a difficult road stretched ahead of him. What followed were long days and nights of intensive, isolating treatments and many trips to a neighboring state for medical appointments. And Dayonie desperately missed his siblings. He longed for carefree days spent laughing and playing with the people he loved most.

When Dayonie connected with Make-A-Wish, his heart was filled with renewed hope. After a season of heartbreak and pain, Dayonie knew that his wish was to have a backyard clubhouse that he could share with his siblings. “When we got that [wish] call, we were over-the-moon ecstatic,” Daniel said. “It’s not just the patient who goes through cancer – the whole family does, too. And for this beautiful thing to happen to our family – it gave us hope and something to look forward to when we all needed it.”

Make-A-Wish connected Dayonie with vendors who helped design a custom clubhouse that met all of his specifications. The project was especially important to the design crew, because one team member was a wish dad whose child had also been touched by the life-changing power of a wish years ago. He went above and beyond for Dayonie by adding a sprawling deck and railing to “wish it forward.”

“It’s beautiful,” Daniel said. “The impact of Make-A-Wish is so far-reaching. We felt so much love from the community.”

The moment Dayonie saw his completed clubhouse for the first time he shrieked with joy. Joined by his siblings, he ran to the clubhouse to explore all it had to offer. Dayonie beamed with excitement as he looked out the window at his dad and shouted, “This is the best day of my life!”

Today, the clubhouse is a constant source of joy and togetherness for the entire family. The kids decorated it for Halloween and Christmas, and they continue to spend countless hours within its walls drawing, dancing, playing and enjoying the simple pleasures of childhood.

“The first week we had the clubhouse, we spent the night in it as a family and it meant so much to all of us to have that time together,” Daniel said. “A wish can help jumpstart the rest of your life. It showed us that wishes can come true and one day [Dayonie] can be cancer-free for life.”