Dream comes true for 9th grader with Morquio syndrome


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HIGHLAND, Utah County — The lights, the hits the crowds — It is opening night of the high school football season in Utah.

Of course, that also means it's the first game for cheerleaders, including Lone Peak High School’s 14-year-old Abby Harwood.

"It means everything. This is so cool. Honestly, it got to me because I never thought I would be able to do that,” Abby Harwood said.

Abby is in 9th grade, but takes online classes at home. She has Morquio syndrome, a genetic disease that is wreaking her body.

"The cells eat at her bones, her kidneys, her heart, her lungs, her eyes, her ears,” said Kathy Harwood, Abby’s mother.

Those with the disease don't usually live long.

"The life span is late teens to early 20's,” Kathy Harwood sadi.

So, Abby is doing everything she can now. At the top of her list was to be a high school cheerleader.

"My brothers are football players, and I don't really know. I just wanted to be normal,” Abby said.

When senior cheerleader Morgan Hellbusch heard about Abby's wish, she made it happen.

"She's become a great symbol of our community, and she has been to our assembly," Hellbusch said. "Everybody looks up to her and so it's cool. She’s popular.”

Friday night, during Lone Peak's game at Bountiful, there Abby was, a cheerleader in a cheerleaders outfit.

"I'm laughing, having fun with them," Abby said. "All the problems just disappear.”

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