"I WISH TO HAVE...A HOT TUB!"

On behalf of our daughter Karissa, we would like to thank the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Northern Alberta for making Karissa’s wish come true. Every bit of exercise we can get out of Karissa helps in keeping her body manageable. Making exercise fun helps to get it done. Having the hot tub not only helps with keeping Karissa’s muscles supple it also helps with her communication as she is more easily engaged when she is having fun.We will be able to incorporate physical therapy exercises in the form of big muscle movements like splashing and kicking. We can get her reaching for water toys. We can do stretching and massages. We can incorporate occupational therapy exercises in the form of having Karissa fill cups and dump them out and other fine motor activity. As well as we can incorporate speech exercises in that we can get Karissa making choices of what she would like to play with in the tub and what she would like to do using eye gaze and modified picture exchange communication. Karissa is more engaged in the tub and will be motivated to do all of these things.

Taking Karissa to a community pool carries with it the risks of contracting communicable diseases. She has a low immune system and often gets the flu from just being around other people. Having the hot tub at home allows us to do a lot more with Karissa and the end result is that it will help her maintain a good quality of life. We are truly appreciative of the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Northern Alberta, and everyone who was involved.

Thank you all for making Karissa’s wish a reality.

Yours truly,

Don and Karen