The Make-A-Wish Foundation has impacted the lives of countless children, bringing smiles to their faces even as they undergo treatments for childhood leukemia and other life-threatening conditions. The organization acts as a fairy godmother of sorts by arranging incredible, once-in-a-lifetime experiences that few will ever have otherwise.
Thanks to them, on January 1, 2017, an Atlanta teenager and aspiring singer got to ring in the new year in incredible fashion.
The dream-making foundation arranged to have Andi Jones, then 13 years old, sing “God Bless America” in front of a whopping 75,000-strong audience. The throngs of fans were gathered there for the Alabama-Washington Peach Bowl game at the Georgia Dome.
Just five years earlier, Andi was diagnosed with ciliary dyskinesia, which causes life-threatening respiratory issues.
Most people her age are able to fight off pneumonia and other respiratory infections, but “if Andi were to get a really bad case of pneumonia … she could pass away on us,” her mom, Julie, explained.
