Dying child's wish: climbing wall for friends

Dying child's wish: climbing wall for friends

April 12, 2004

ST. LOUIS -- Battling an incurable brain tumor that
robbed him of his sight, 9-year-old Mak Shulist made a
dying wish that had nothing to do with meeting with a
celebrity, shaking a president's hand or going to Walt
Disney World.

Before his death Friday, Mak got the Make-A-Wish
Foundation to do something for his friends -- build a
rock-climbing wall on the playground of Ellisville
Elementary School.

''It says a lot about the family and the type of person
he was -- selfless, thoughtful and caring,'' said Dave
Knes, principal at the 600-student school in suburban Ellisville.

''We learned a lesson from a 9-year-old -- that even
when we're going through tough times we should be
thinking of other people and not ourselves.''

Mak's illness was diagnosed about a year ago, Knes
said, when physical education teachers noticed him
losing his balance and falling while he ran around the track.

Despite chemotherapy and radiation treatments, the
tumor came back last fall about the time Mak started
third grade, Knes said.

Copyright 2004, Digital Chicago Inc.
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LP
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