Adams Twp. mom recalls son’s Jurassic Make-A-Wish in ’05
As Make-A-Wish Greater Pennsylvania and West Virginia turns 40 this month, officials there are hearkening back on some of the special wishes granted during those years, and one of the 500 granted to Butler County children springs to mind.
Natalie Kurn, of Adams Township, couldn’t forget her son having a Make-A-Wish granted in 2005 during his bout with cancer, especially since the roaring remnants of the event have become a permanent installation in her backyard.
Kurn said when her son, Zack Abel, was 5 years old in 2005, he was diagnosed with rhabdomyosarcoma, which is the most common soft-tissue cancer to occur in children.
Kurn planned to take Zack to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis for treatment, but discovered the same clinical trial for “rhabdo” was happening at Children’s Hospital in Pittsburgh.