A wish came true Tuesday for a 17-year-old Bakersfield boy with kidney disease. The Make-A-Wish Foundation granted the teen a shopping spree. The best part? The whole thing was a surprise.
Steven Gillian was diagnosed with kidney disease when he was 12. He's now waiting for a transplant. While new clothes don't cure his disease, he said it certainly makes him feel better.
A knock on his door Tuesday morning was the start of a wish coming true.
"Hi Steven. Are you ready? Did you know it was going to happen?," said Catherine Anspach, Kern County Community Director, Make-A-Wish Foundation Central California.
Downstairs a limo waited for Steven to take him and his family on a shopping spree, all made possible by the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
"I've never even seen this much money in my life," said Gillian.
In 2007, Steven was diagnosed with a rare form of kidney disease. Five years later, he waits for a transplant, taking the bus to get dialysis three times a week because his family can't afford a car.
"He's been such a champ through all of this," said Patricia Fairweather, Steven's mom. "He never complains about anything. If I was him I would be complaining left and right, you know?"
He didn't even complain when the family went homeless for a month over the summer.
"It was really hard. We had nowhere to go," said Fairweather. "It's no way for a family to live especially when you have a devastating disease like he has."
But, now Steven has a home. And, on Tuesday he got everything he wanted including an X-Box, a laptop, a skateboard, and plenty of clothes.
"He deserves everything in the world," said Fairweather.
"It's awesome and I really need clothes because I only had like one shirt, one pair of pants, and that's about it," said Gillian.
He's also getting a few things for his brother.
"My brother, that's all he wears every day too," said Gillian.
"It's probably a little shocking. He doesn't get to go shopping that often, you know," said Fairweather.
With bags in tow, he's a shopping pro and he says he's ready to be the best dressed kid at dialysis.
"Like a dream come true," said Fairweather. "Something I could have never done for my son."
Make-A-Wish granted about 100 wishes in Central California last year, a third of which were in Kern County.