Meeting Elsa: Camille is going to get her wish

For years, young Camille Gaudette and her mom, Natalie Genereux, considered medical trips to Ottawa to treat Camille's many health issues their family vacations.

Camille, 10, a student at École Alliance St. Joseph in Chelmsford, suffers from a laundry list of health problems: Her thyroid doesn't work; she has a growth hormone deficiency, for which she takes a needle every day; she suffers from seizures; she's hypoglycemic; she has one kidney working at 20 per cent, while the other works at 80 per cent, and; she has issues with her vision, and has had operations on her eyes. And there are more.

“We just discovered she's missing a chromosome, and we're trying to figure out what that means,” said Genereux. “Doctors can't figure out why she's getting sicker, instead of getting healthier.”

Camille was born premature, weighing just three pounds, four ounces, Genereux said. She looked healthy at first, but then people started to notice that she stopped growing.

“Since she started taking hormones, she has started growing again,” Genereux said.

So, while her trips to Ottawa will continue, come Sept. 2, Camille will go on an actual family vacation, after having her wish granted from Make-A-Wish Eastern Ontario.

Camille, her mom, sister and grandmother are bound for Walt Disney World, where the young girl plans to meet all of Disney's princesses. But, she has her heart set on meeting one, in particular.

“My favourite princess is Elsa (from the movie "Frozen"), because she sings 'Let It Go,' " Camille said.

Her favourite part of the entire movie is when Elsa turns her dress into ice.

“It's going to be fun,” she said.

Her mom is truly grateful for the opportunity.

“It's a relief,” she said. “It's amazing; it's a miracle. For my daughter to get that one wish, she's going to glow. When we get there, I'll see that little girl smile the whole time.

"She doesn't smile much, because she's in a lot of pain, but to see that smile will be a blessing.”

Making the wish a reality is Tysen's Mission to a Million. Tysen's mission is to to raise $1 million for Make-A-Wish, which will help grant 100 wishes. He adopted Camille's wish. Chartrand's Your Independent Grocer in Chelmsford raised $1,200 through its Star Campaign, half of which will go toward a gift card for groceries.

Julie Nicholls, representing Make-A-Wish Eastern Ontario, said Camille was aware of the wish prior to the Aug. 27 reveal, but it was an opportunity for her family to come out and celebrate with her.

“We referred the wish to Ottawa, where all the paper work is prepared and passports are finalized, then I get to reveal it to the child,” Nicholls said. “We first met in June, and now the wish has become a reality.”

Nicholls' own son had his wish granted years ago, which inspired her to become involved with the program.

“I fell in love with the organization,” she said. “My son wanted to meet Buzz Lightyear and he wanted his sister to meet Ariel.”

The mission of Make-A-Wish Eastern Ontario is to grant the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions to enrich the human experience with hope, strength and joy. Since their inception in 1999, they've have granted more than 550 wishes.