Copperas Cove teen receives Make A Wish

By BRITTANY FHOLER

Cove Leader-Press

Make A Wish of Central and South Texas surprised a Copperas Cove student last Friday with his wish. 

James Braden Charles, 18, was first diagnosed with osteosarcoma in July 2018 at age 15. Osteosarcoma is a type of bone cancer and is the most common type of bone cancer in children and teens, according to St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital. 

He underwent 22 rounds of chemotherapy and an invasive surgery that removed inches of bone from his femur and knee, leaving him with a bionic knee and part bionic femur. 

He spent approximately a year, on and off, in the hospital as he underwent treatment. He said that his treatment went well and didn’t suffer many side effects from his chemotherapy, other than hair loss. 

His cancer returned in mid-2020 and had spread to his lungs. He underwent two more surgeries to remove the mets from his lungs and eight more rounds of chemotherapy. Doctors ended up removing five percent of each lung, he said. 

In December 2020, he rang the cancer-free bell again. 

Braden said that his initial Make-A-Wish request had been for his family to go on a 14-day Australian cruise. The cruise was booked and planned for after he finished treatment, around February 2020, but then the pandemic hit and that was no longer an option. His next choice of meeting a group was also not approved due to the pandemic. 

He decided on requesting a PC gaming set up for his room. He had been using a laptop that was gifted to him by a family member after his initial diagnosis, but he had never had a desktop setup for gaming. His granted wish included monitors, a 1 terabyte hard drive desktop computer, VR accessories and more, including extra batteries for the drone he owns. 

In addition to playing games on his new setup, Braden also uses his computer for schoolwork and video editing of his drone footage. 

Braden was attending Copperas Cove High School until his second diagnosis led to him needing credit recovery, which led him to transfer to Crossroads High School. He expects to be finished with high school by Christmas. 

“I love it. It’s awesome,” Braden said about his new desktop setup. “At first, in the very early stages of when I was diagnosed, my social worker was like, ‘When are you going to make a wish? I said I don’t need to make a wish. She was like, ‘Braden, you’re getting a wish.’”

Braden said his mother kept the whole thing a surprise, and his dad helped make the reveal of his Wish Day even more special. 

“I was a little suspicious when she asked for my work schedule,” Braden said. “I knew something was up when my dad said let’s go look at houses.”

Charlotte Heinze, with Card My Yard, played a small but meaningful part in helping make Braden’s Wish Day memorable. While Braden and his dad were out driving and decided to take a scenic route home, the front yard of the James house was decorated with a Make a Wish themed Card My Yard yard décor set up to commemorate the occasion. 

Make A Wish partners with Card My Yard locations across the nation to help make the Wish days even more special. 

“Many of us have already been setting up celebrations and donating our time to this awesome cause already, and this was an extension of that effort,” Heinze said. 

Heinze said that her hope was to partner with Make A Wish to spread even more joy. 

Make A Wish Days are open to children diagnosed with a critical illness, older than 2 ½ years old and younger than 18 at the time of the referral, who have not received a wish from another organization. 

“A wish helps a child, or a young man like Braden, develop hope and strength during a journey that many of us could never imagine going through,” said Wish Coordinator Claila Marentes, of Make-A-Wish Central and South Texas. “For me, granting Braden’s wish was so humbling and rewarding, not only because Braden and his family were an absolute joy to work with but because I was able to learn about his story and be reminded that our wish kids are so incredibly strong, they fight every battle thrown their way with determination and come out of it with joy. aWe are very thankful to be able to celebrate his brave journey.”