Jackson's Monstrous Make-A-Wish
Ashlyn Pecchio
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7-year-old Jackson loves all things spooky. So, of course Amber Andrews, Director of Special Events at Make-A-Wish of Central & Western North Carolina, thought of SCarowinds when planning a special spooky surprise for him. Jackson, who lives with his family in Denver, NC has been battling a rare form of pediatric Leukemia for the past few years and received treatment at St. Jude Children's Hospital. Our mission: help Make-A-Wish give him an experience where he could focus on just being a kid.
To start this special wish, Amber enlisted the help of Lowe’s Home Improvement and The Horror Dome to transform the family’s home into a haunted house – both inside and out. We must admit, we’re quite impressed. Jackson thinks his house now rivals some of our scariest SCarowinds mazes. ;)
This was just the beginning of this monstrous wish. On his 7th birthday, Jackson and family visited Carowinds! They started the day with a “behind the screams” tour of one of our guests’ favorite haunted mazes – Silver Scream Studios: Condemned – led by Luke Centore, one of our Live Entertainment managers.
Next, they got a front row seat to our Meat Cleaver High Pep Rally featuring a deadhead drumline and zombie cheerleaders, who made sure to give the birthday boy a shoutout.
After making their way through our scare zones, Jackson’s family arrived at The Grove for a surprise birthday celebration – complete with cupcakes and a gift of SCarowinds swag! Quite a few of our monsters stopped by to sing Happy Birthday and spend time with Jackson.
Our decor team created the perfect birthday backdrop.
Jackson gave the monsters his best scare.
The Blue Ridge Killers' chainsaws were definitely Jackson's favorite prop.
Jackson and his favorite gift - a pumpkin Squishie.
This party wasn't complete without some spooky cupcakes.
Happy Birthday Jackson! We're so happy we were able to host your spooky birthday celebration at the place where the Carolinas come together.
