Nathan Lowe is asked about the highlight of his recent Make-A-Wish trip to Costa Rica, but the 11-year-old Haliburton boy cannot single out one thing.
“All of it,” he says, while seated at the dining-room table of his home, with older brother Zach, mom Desiree, and dad, Brad.
Nathan was diagnosed with congenital heart disease before he was even born, and has faced more medical challenges than most people do in a lifetime, including undergoing multiple surgeries, and living under constant care.
Nathan’s family applied and were accepted for Make-A-Wish. He got to choose the destination, but the family agreed with his pick. Desiree and Brad had been to Costa Rica before, so Nathan had heard about their adventures. His folks had told him about ziplining and visiting volcanoes.
He was attracted to the rainforest and the wildlife.
“I just thought that would be a cool place to go,” he said.
Desiree said Nathan has wanted to go ziplining for a long time, was keen to see a volcano, and sink into the natural hot springs, as he loves to be in warm water.
It wasn’t Nathan’s first rodeo. He’s been on airplanes before, to Saint Martin, Texas, the Dominican Republic, Punta Cana. However, it was his first time in the cockpit of a WestJet plane, and he and his family’s presence was announced on the flight.
They stayed at Montana De Fuego Hotel and Spa, in La Fortuna village, overlooking the Arenal volcano.
They took a gondola above the rainforest to start a zipline at 70 km/hr for a kilometre.
Family now giving back
They visited sloths. “One, they’re slow,” Nathan said. “Two, they’re cute.” The river hot springs were also a splash. Zach said going with his younger brother and mom and dad on the trip “was a lot of fun, the food was good, too.” Desiree and Brad said Nathan commented many times on the trip, “I can’t believe my wish is coming true.”
Meets hockey heroes
Nathan said his heart condition slows him down, but he doesn’t think about it much. He makes regular visits to clinics at Sick Kids, not just cardiology. He’s on Warfarin.
Brad said, “we have to tell him to pump the brakes for some things. It’s hard for him to understand and hard for us to do, but sometimes the risk isn’t worth the reward.”
He loves hockey but can’t play, though does tai kwon do and jiu-jitsu. He’s a blue belt.
He has also had an opportunity, though MLSE, to visit the Toronto Maple Leafs dressing room a couple of times. He has a custom jersey, magnetic stall name tag, and all kinds of memorabilia in his room. On one visit, he handed out signed Nathan Lowe hockey cards to the amusement of the blue and white, and appeared on Leafs Blueprint.
This trip was special, though. Desiree said, “just seeing him walk through all the steps; just getting to do things that he had wanted to do, that he had been wishing for, and it was all coming true. That was amazing.
“He kept saying, ‘I can’t believe this, I’m so happy to be doing this with my family. I can’t believe my dream came true’… all these sentimental, beautiful things. Just knowing it was really impacting him, that meant a lot. He carries it, we all carry it with us … it was really meaningful.”
And, now, the family is giving back. They’ve signed up for some volunteer shifts for Make-a-Wish at the July 18-20 Toronto Honda Indy.
“The fact they have enough money and they’re a nonprofit organization blows my mind,” Nathan says.
Brad adds, “it’s an honour to give back to such an amazing organization. That’s something we’ll never stop; we’ll do it all the time.”
As an independently-operating affiliate of Make-A-Wish International, Make-A-Wish Canada is part of the network of the world’s leading children’s wish-granting organization. They serve children in every community in Canada, and in 50 countries worldwide. Make-A-Wish Canada has granted more than 40,000 wishes over the past 40 years with 2,011 of them last year alone. Learn more at makeawish.ca
