Novi High School grants Farmington boy’s wish to go to Disney World

NOVI/FARMINGTON — “Thank you” was all a little boy from Farmington could muster after learning that the students at Novi High School have funded his wish to go to Disney World with his family through Make-A-Wish Michigan.

Henry Tudor, 8, a student at Lanigan Elementary School in Farmington, like his brother Max, 11, suffers from cystic fibrosis, a genetic disorder that causes issues with breathing and digestion and can damage organs. The disorder is caused by a mutation of the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator gene, which causes mucus in the body to be thick and sticky instead of slippery.

As a result of CF, Henry and Max undergo extensive breathing treatments twice a day to break up the mucus in their lungs. The treatments take 20-30 minutes each time.

“They can’t cough it up,” said their mother, Christina. “When they have a cough, they can’t get it up, so then it stays down in their lungs and it starts to turn into bacteria and different infections.”

She said the infections are life-threatening. Henry and Max are not able to absorb the nutrients that they need from food and have to take different medications to help them with that.

“On top of that, Henry is resistant to some of the antibiotics that help to fight infections, and they have a lot of different allergies,” Christina said. “We have to wear masks everywhere we go.”

Henry and Max’s brother, Enzo, 12, is epileptic.

As a result of her children’s illnesses, the Tudors are a single-income family. Christina stays home to take care of the children and their medical needs while her husband, Jason, works.

Max and Enzo had their wishes granted previously, and now Henry’s dream of going to Disney will be fulfilled as well.

Members of the Novi High School Student Council surprised Henry with the trip during halftime at the Staff vs. Seniors Wish Week basketball game. The students had been raising funds all week through various events to cover the $20,000 all-expenses-paid trip.

“We collaborated with the administration, the council and everyone in the school to truly think of events that actually were new and a lot of people would come to,” said Haritha Akella, 17, president of the student council.

This year’s events included food trucks, pie-a-senior, a Brawl Stars video game tournament, a pancake breakfast, school concerts and the basketball game.

“This event was previously held in the spring, but we moved it to December because of Christmas,” said Clara Pohlonski, 16, vice president of the student council. “We find that people are more in the giving spirit.”

The students revealed the trip to Henry by calling him to center court and asking him to look at the digital display board on the wall, which said, “Henry is going to …” and showed a picture of the Magic Kingdom, while students simultaneously held three handpainted banners that read, “You’re going to Disney.”

Henry’s jaw about hit the floor, and his mom said he was truly surprised. She said she too was surprised with how it was revealed, but she knew that Novi High School was sponsoring her son’s wish.

“I didn’t know it was going to be, like, this big thing, so it’s kind of cool,” Christina said. “I was kind of surprised. A lot of things were kept from me too, and I love it. A lot of it was a surprise and it’s wonderful.”

According to his mom, Henry loves Legos and will definitely be checking out the Disney Lego store and the Minifigure Factory when they travel to Disney World in January. The store has large Lego art displays, a pick-a-brick wall, larger-than-life Disney models, Lego statues, collectable Lego sets, and a build and play area where kids can play with the Legos and test them on a track. The factory allows visitors to design and build their own Lego minifigure with clothes, accessories and more.

“He loves Legos. He loves, loves, loves ’em,” Christina said. “He’s always building different things.”

The Novi High School students felt good about the school’s effort.

“It really does mean a lot. Just doing this Wish Week during this holiday time, it just all comes together in the spirit of giving and it means a lot,” Pohlonski said.

Akella agreed, saying that it was “super cool” to be able to raise such a large amount of money in a short time to send a child to Disney World.

“It is really cool how we meet that goal every single year and we’re able to actually see that come true in, like, a child’s eyes,” Akella said.

Pohlonski said she has done this event for the last three years and it just “warms her heart” to be able to reveal to a child that their wish is coming true.