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Cassidy walks for wishes

Aug 20, 2013, 1:43 PM | Updated: Aug 21, 2013, 4:21 pm

Eleven-year-old started having surgery every six months starting at age one-and-a-half due to a rare genetic condition called . She has two titanium ribs, a foot prosthesis, cataracts, and alopecia but that doesn’t stop her from campaigning around the Puget Sound for the Make-a-Wish Foundation, and fundraising to make wishes come true for other sick children.

Cassidy’s activism started when she was six and she got her wish to see Rascal Flatts play at the Tacoma Dome. She at dinner with the band’s bassist and even got to sing on stage in front of thousands of people. Now, at 11 years old, she’s dedicated to helping make wishes come true for other children.

Cassidy and her family are raising money for the fifth annual at Marymoor Park, which supports the Make-a-Wish Foundation. This year the organization hopes to raise $265,000.

The money goes to children like Gage, who Cassidy said always wanted to be a police officer.

“He got to go to the station and actually handcuff some people,” said Cassidy. “And on Halloween my sister and I dressed up as cops in honor of him.”

Though Cassidy wasn’t even tall enough to see over the tables and chairs in the studio, her strong spirit was tangible; she sang one of her favorite Rascal Flatts songs to The Dori Monson Show crew and explained her condition in a surprisingly upbeat tone.

“Without surgeries my spine just gets more crooked and more crooked. So they have to go in and correct that with titanium expandable rods.”

Cassidy said her attitude comes from her mom, Shannon, who taught her and her sister, Ella, to give back to the community that helped them.

“It gives me hope and so I like to do it because it makes me feel good that I am raising money for other kids that have the same or worse conditions that I have,” said Cassidy.”I like to do it to make me feel good but also I like to do it to make others feel good.”

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Cassidy walks for wishes