Make-A-Wish holds Easter egg hunt for deserving kids


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SALT LAKE CITY — The Easter Bunny came early this year for a group of very special, very deserving kids. For many of them, the fun and games today was a way to escape the hardships of life.

Fanconi anemia is a pretty big word for such a little girl, but Ariauna Christensen knows more than just how to pronounce it. She knows how to live with it.

“Ariauna was diagnosed about a year and a half ago with fanconi anemia which is a rare blood disorder disease that basically kills off your bone marrow,” said Natalie Christensen, Ariauna’s Mom.

Auriana’s family decided to get her a bone marrow transplant and had to travel to Minnesota to get it. After five months of surgeries and recovery, Auriana got to come home, but she wasn’t there long when Make-A-Wish whisked her away to DisneyWorld.

“Auriana’s disease right now doesn’t have a cure,” said Christensen. “So being able to make those memories to last forever was really important to our family.”

Auriana is doing well, but she still has to go to the hospital often for blood work. Her family said every visit to the doctor could lead to a cancer diagnoses.

That’s why they say things like the Make-A-Wish Easer egg hunt on Saturday mean the world to them.

“It gets her to focus on some fun for the day and not always focusing on her disease and not knowing what tomorrow might bring,” Christensen said.

Organizers say that’s their goal, to bring together people who have a lot in common, and let them relax.

Jared Perry, the CEO of Make-A-Wish Utah, said “Every child that’s here today and every family that’s been here, they’ve just been through a lot, and it’s a chance just to kind of forget that and just enjoy the holiday season.”

For Ariauna and others like her, it’s a time to have some fun.

Make-A-Wish Utah grants the wishes of kids with life-threatening medical conditions. The organization said it had about 600 people total at the multiple Easter egg hunts on Saturday.

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