Christmas Wish: the Pearson Family

Today we grant a Christmas Wish for the Pearson family, whose 2 year old daughter was just diagnosed with leukemia.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Believe in the magic of the Hub days Dave Royan's
Christmas Wish and here we go with what is pretty
much the last Christmas Wish of the season. We do
have one more for Youth Link, but that is just
to help out the homeless youth and the work that
they do. So there's really not a lot of like,
I don't know, there's really not a lot of tears.
There's a lot of power behind the wish. But this

(00:21):
is one where I give you a mascara alert and
definitely something that we want to do for Christmas Wish.
This is Wish number I want to say sixteen or seventeen.

Speaker 2 (00:32):
Yeah, a sixteen.

Speaker 1 (00:33):
We've done so many. Let's meet Jamie. Hi, Jamie. Hello.
Jamie and I were talking about how long you've been
listening to KATBB since you were like a little.

Speaker 3 (00:41):
Kid, as long as I can remember.

Speaker 1 (00:43):
And I said, did you ever call in to request
a song?

Speaker 3 (00:46):
You said, many times, but I never got through.

Speaker 1 (00:48):
Never got through, never got through. The request lines were
always busy, they were. And then it wasn't a KWBE concert,
but it was back in the day when you were
listening to KTBB. What was the show you went to
New kids on the blocket here at Islands, that hair
and Island back when you were you were probably like
eight years old back.

Speaker 3 (01:03):
Then, yea ten tennis.

Speaker 1 (01:04):
Yeah wow, yeah, thanks for listening all these years. You
and I talked on the phone a week or so ago,
yep about this family. How do you know this family
that we're about to help out with a wish?

Speaker 3 (01:15):
Well. Jordan Pearson is my daughter's softball coach. So I
have two daughters, Lydia sixteen and Elias fourteen. He has
been Lydia's varsity coach and Ellie's summer softball coach as well.
So he's had a very big impact and they've gotten
very close to his family as well.

Speaker 1 (01:30):
And then something happened kind of out of the blue,
just a couple of weeks ago, literally like two and
a half weeks ago, something like that.

Speaker 4 (01:37):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (01:37):
On December second, their two year old Sawyer, who also
goes by Bean, was diagnosed with leukemia, very unexpectedly.

Speaker 1 (01:47):
Yeah, they just went to the doctors. She had a cough. Yeah,
is that what it was. She went she had a cough,
and they said, okay, well let's take her down to
the pediatrician men find out what's going on exactly yet
two years old yep.

Speaker 3 (01:56):
Two years old, had a lingering cough that was going
on and on, and found out that same day it
was not just a cough.

Speaker 1 (02:01):
It was boukina that same day, same day, where you
think you're going to go to the CVS pharmacy and
get some sort of you know, antibiotic or whatever. And
then they actually went that day yep, to probably children's
or I.

Speaker 3 (02:13):
Think pediatrician first, and then they saw something on one
of the scans that mom kind of pushed to get
them to do more scans and immediately were sent by ambulance.
Actually two children's from the pediatrician, two children's within two hours.

Speaker 1 (02:26):
And you think about how life turned on a time
for that family that day. Yep, just awful. Let's call Jordan,
who's the father correct right now, But first let's check
in with our boy Brandon from college muscle movers. Brandon,
good morning, Martin. What part of town are you in today? Brandon?

Speaker 4 (02:43):
We're in Shoreview?

Speaker 1 (02:44):
Okay, gotcha. I always get shore Wood and Shoreview mixed up.
Shore View is the one out by white Bear Lake
gashed out that way, yep. And I remember that because
you have a view of the KDWB tower out there.
Can you see the KDWB tower where you are, Brandon.

Speaker 4 (03:00):
I'm not sure, Okay, I didn't know that information for her.

Speaker 1 (03:04):
Though, Keep looking, Keep looking anyway, Brandon, thanks to you
guys and all the whole team everybody at College Muscle
Movers for being such great partners with Christmas Wish this year.
Here is your plug. The College Muscle Movers gives free
fifteen free muscle boxes and an on time guarantee with
every single move. Brandon passed the word along to everybody
at College Muscle Movers how much we appreciate all that

(03:26):
you have done, and you especially for helping out deliver
the wishes of course. All right, Brandon, please hold, let's
call Jordan right now.

Speaker 2 (03:36):
So we have coached Jordan, correct, and we've got your
girls in studio with us right now.

Speaker 5 (03:42):
Yes, just one is the coach, one of them.

Speaker 2 (03:44):
One of you guys has Jordan as a coach, both
of them, both of them. Okay, sorry miss that earlier.
That's fun. Yeah, it's always fun to have like a
great coach because I remember how impactful my coaches were
when I did sports in high school and middle school
and all that stuff.

Speaker 1 (03:57):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (03:58):
So yeah, he's a great a great cook guide to
both of them.

Speaker 5 (04:01):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (04:21):
Hello, hey, coach, is this coach Jordan? Yes, hey, coach,
it's Dave Ryan over at kd WB Radio. How are
you this morning?

Speaker 4 (04:33):
Good? Good?

Speaker 1 (04:34):
You sound like you're out of breath. Did you just
carry something heavy up the stairs, Coach?

Speaker 4 (04:38):
No? No, just running?

Speaker 1 (04:41):
Okay. I want to jump into your day with some
good news here, Jordan. I've got Jamie here, who you
might know because you coach her daughters in softball, and
she has done what we do here on kat WOB
called a Christmas wish for your family where she told
us about the situation that your family has been facing
and and she wanted to help with some support and

(05:05):
some joy and some love and say hi Jamie, so
he knows that you're here. Hi Jordan, Hello, good morning,
good morning. She actually wrote a letter in to KATWB
about your situation. And have you got a minute, Jordan
to listen to the letter that she wrote. I do, Okay,
whenever you're ready, Jamie. All right.

Speaker 3 (05:27):
Coach Jordan Pearson has served as a softball coach for
my daughters, Lydia and Ellie over the past few years.
And has made a huge impact in their lives. He
leads the Mound Ye High School softball program as the
varsity coach, as well as coaches and trains for the
Minnesota Stampede and MBSA softball organizations. He dedicates countless hours
of softball to our community. While he is busy coaching

(05:47):
and training athletes, his amazing wife, Mary is holding down
the fort at home taking care of their four young children.
Their family truly sacrifices so much for these athletes. His
commitment as a coach surpasses that of any other coach,
as he believes in each girl within the program and
helps them reach their full potential. He is not only
a coach, but also a great friend to the athletes

(06:08):
and to their families. Coach Pearson is also a devoted
husband to his wife, Mary and their father, and a
father to four young children. Dawson is six and in kindergarten,
Lylah is four, Sawyers two, and Teddy, who is just
nine months old. On December tewond the Pearson's life turned
upside down in the blink of an eye. A sick
visit to the pediatrician revealed that Sawyer, aged two, not

(06:30):
only had pneumonia and strep throat, but she was also
diagnosed with al tell leukemia. The following day, Sawyer began
her battle as they met with many specialists and landed
on a plan. First was a CT scan to find
out more about the mass in her chest.

Speaker 5 (06:45):
They concluded that it was.

Speaker 3 (06:46):
Pressing on her windpipe and the original plan of intubating
her and putting her in a port for chemo was
not an option. It was no longer safe for her
to be put under the next plan was to put
her under light sedation and insert a central line into
her arm. Following day, on Tuesday, December third, she received
her first round of chemotherapy. Overnight, she was monitored closely

(07:06):
in the picck You. Sawyer, also known as Bean, has
since moved out of the picke You, but remains at
the hospital as she continues her fight, and will remain
in the hospital through Christmas. This little two year old
might be small, but she is fierce and is fighting
cancer head on. Each member of the Pearson family significantly
impacts our community, often sacrificing their own family time to

(07:27):
support Moundsview athletes by coaching, attending their events, and encouraging
all of their endeavors. They deserve a little happiness this year,
in spite of some tough times ahead as Sawyer fights
this battle. I speak for the entire Mounds You community
when asking Katie w B to grant this amazing family
a Christmas wish so they can feel loved and supported
during this very difficult time.

Speaker 1 (07:51):
Jordan, I can't even imagine what that day would have
been like when little Sawyer went to the pediatrician for
a cough and you just expected it would be a
cough and you get some medication and life would go
on as normal, right, yes, yep, but a very tough day.
And she started chemo the very next day.

Speaker 4 (08:13):
The very next day, yep, very next day.

Speaker 1 (08:15):
How is she doing? She's at she's at the hospital
now and it looks like she'll be there through Christmas.
How is she doing?

Speaker 4 (08:21):
There's there's a lot of ups and downs. She sleeps
a lot. She's tired, as you can imagine a two
year old. She doesn't get out of that much. She
loved the compotator and shread of cheese.

Speaker 5 (08:40):
I love that.

Speaker 1 (08:41):
And I'm going to guess, just kind of putting together
the whole story here, You've got three other kids that
are like what's six and under? And you've got work
and obligations and snow dishovel and things to do, and
then trips back and forth to the hospital. So you're
it sounds like you're at home right now.

Speaker 4 (08:59):
Yep, at home right now. Yep. School every day. Okay,
so the four Yeah, she goes to school two times
a week. Driving a lot of.

Speaker 1 (09:10):
Driving, a lot of a lot of stress, a lot
of a lot of a lot, just a lot and
we and a lot to handle. And you've got married
by your side to help you out. And we heard
about this wish and we thought, you know, it's one
of those wishes where we can do something. We wish
we could do everything, but we want to do something

(09:32):
to show your some support and love to your family
and bring some smiles and some love into your Christmas
and take some things off of your plate that you
won't have to worry about, like buying Christmas presents. So
here are some of the things that we've got for
your kids. Let's start off with Dawson. He is six
years old and we got him some This is just

(09:53):
presence for your kids, and you can set him out
under the tree or give them to him later, say
whatever you want to do. We got everything from hoodies
and some shirts. We got a Jurassic Park Dino. We
got a spider Man webshooter, which we question whether it
was a good idea. It sounds like it's messy, but
it sounds like it's a lot of fun. A model
Ford Bronco. We got an eight pack of Matchbox cars.
We got the Hot Wheels Loop Madness track. So because

(10:16):
he is a six year old boy, and that's what
six year old boys a lot of the time are into.
How old is Lila? We got her some baby dolls
with accessories, some Barbies, a pink Barbie convertible, an Lol
doll at Disney, Mawana doll, a pink radio flyer four
and one stroll and trike that sounds cool, and six

(10:38):
new outfits, a doctor kit. That's for Lila. Let's talk
about Sawyer, who is in the hospital. But you will
do You'll do the best Christmas you can with Sawyer
in the hospital. Absolutely for Sawyer, we got her a
baby doll with accessories, and the Barbie Peak Convertible, some
new outfits and some Barbies. And then Teddy, you're a
little nine month old, not quite aware of what's going

(11:00):
on at Christmas, but they're still like, hey, what's up. So, uh,
We've got Melissa and Doug Latch's barn, a wooden puzzle,
a dump truck. We got some other cool stuff, a piano,
rainbow toy, and some new clothes too. So just some
things for the kids to hap under the tree. And
I know that you probably and Mary have been out
shopping and trying to get all the things done. There's
probably a lot of presents under the tree. Right.

Speaker 4 (11:23):
Oh no, there hasn't been much shopping and being done.

Speaker 1 (11:26):
And that makes sense. I mean, seriously, that's not going
to be one of your priorities. So I'm glad we
can put do you have a do you have a tree?

Speaker 5 (11:32):
Up?

Speaker 1 (11:32):
Jordan?

Speaker 4 (11:33):
We are up?

Speaker 1 (11:34):
Okay, good Now we got some things to put under
the tree. Good for all the kids. We got something,
it's a it's called go to Studio mixed media art case.
We got Crayola jumbo crayons and washable paint sticks and
canvases and a bunch of art stuff because they're into art.
They love car like coloring and crafting and things like that.

Speaker 4 (11:56):
Absolutely okay, good, So.

Speaker 1 (11:58):
There's some things for the kids. So there'll be things
taken care of under the tree. I think some of
them are rapped too, don't they wrap them, Jenny, Yes,
they do. They are wrapped. So that's taking care of.
There's going to be a guy outside your door in
a second from College muscle movers, and he is going
to load all these things in your house. We have
some things for your family too. For the family, we've

(12:20):
got a one thousand dollars Target gift card and you
can spend that on anything you need, whether it's like
Clorox wipes or dish soap or Pj's, whatever you need
down at Target. That's one thousand dollars. A one year
family membership to the Shoreview Community Center. So because I
know that you guys are like into athletics and staying

(12:41):
healthy and active, so we got a one year membership
for the Shoreview Community Center and some other things. For Dad,
you're into sports, We're gonna send you to Dick Sporting
Goods when you get time with a five hundred dollars
gift card to Dick Sporting Goods. That's for you. What
department are you going to go to? First? Jordan would
you say, over it Dicks, probably yeah, good choice, good choice,

(13:06):
And a five hundred dollars gift card for mom Mary
to get anything she wants over at Target as well.
And uh, and then just for fun, Wedding Day Diamonds
is is going to get Mary a pair of diamond
study of rings from Wedding Day Diamonds. And they're just there.
They heard about this and they said, hey, what can

(13:26):
we do. So here's a pair of diamond study of
rings for Mary. So, like I said, I wish we
could do everything. We can't do everything, but we just
wanted to give you guys some support and love. And
we can't even imagine. Nearly everyone listening who has kids
has healthy kids that if they go to the pediatrician,
they give them some penicillin or they give them some whatever,

(13:48):
and they go home and they're back to being obnoxious
kids the next day or a couple of days later.
And that didn't happen with Sawyer. She will be back
to being an obnoxious two or three year old very
very soon. But in the time, it's going to be
a different Christmas. But we're happy it is. Wait, news flash,
there one more thing. You're doing a lot of driving

(14:09):
back and forth to the hospital Jordan. So Holiday Station
Stores is going to give your family a one thousand
dollars gas card one thousand dollars and that'll ease some
of the burden, because I know there's there's not only
the emotional burden, but the financial burden too, absolutely, and
it's got to be tough with with because you're you're

(14:30):
spending so much attention and rightfully so with Sawyer that
you can't short the other kids with all of the things.
How are the other kids holding up? I know that
your baby is not old enough to understand. How are
the old the other kids holding up?

Speaker 4 (14:45):
They got plenty of to do during the week. Gowsin's
pretty into sports, and Lilah's busy being mom around the house,
so they've been staying to a normal schedule.

Speaker 1 (14:58):
Well good. I know that you're trying to hold down
the fort as best you can. We wish you nothing
but the best for Christmas, and our hearts go out
to you and your family and little Sawyer, and we
hope this helps you have a little bit brighter of
the Christmas.

Speaker 4 (15:13):
Okay, yes, thank you, Thank you to kat w B,
thank you to the mouths View community and everybody else
that's been the saying prayer.

Speaker 1 (15:24):
Absolutely, you were not the only one, Jamie, if I
remember right that sending a wish for this family. But
we were honored to have you in to read this wish. Jamie,
I'll let you say goodbye to coach Jordan.

Speaker 3 (15:35):
Thank you, Katie, Debuv. We really appreciate it. Thank you Jordan.
You know what's going to be tough these next couple
weeks and months.

Speaker 5 (15:42):
And we're all here to support you.

Speaker 3 (15:44):
So glad we could do a little something for.

Speaker 5 (15:45):
You this Christmas.

Speaker 4 (15:47):
Thank you.

Speaker 1 (15:48):
Of course, I want to thank some of our sponsors
who have been so generous. I mean, first of all,
Holiday Station Stores, this just happened like minutes ago. They
heard about this just minutes ago, and they're like, hey,
going back and forth to the gas station, going back
and forth to visits and not to the gas station,
but let's go buy Holiday for a thousand dollars gas card.
And that is presented by Holiday Station Stores, and thanks

(16:11):
for all that they have done for Christmas wish.

Speaker 2 (16:14):
Yeah, and if you get a gift card with them
right now, you can help fight childhood hunger because they
are donating a portion of proceeds of gift cards to
no kid hungry.

Speaker 1 (16:22):
I love that they do that, you know what I mean.
They don't have to, but they do it anyway. So
I appreciate that thanks to Wedding Day Diamonds. I'm going
to give them a plug because they threw in some
joy with the diamond Study rings. So if you're looking
for the perfect Christmas gift, grab those ear rings that
are on sale now through the holidays for all budgets
at all nine Wedding Day Diamonds locations and online at

(16:43):
Wedding Day Diamonds dot com. Don't forget, it's Engagement season two,
so get that engagement ring at Wedding Day Diamonds. Why
Engagement season because all the family is going to be
around and you can show off that beautiful ring from
Wedding Day Diamonds at this and thanks to of course,
Treasure Island Resort and Casino and Jamie, thank you for coming.
We appreciate it. Christmas wish on one oh one point

(17:03):
three

Speaker 5 (17:03):
K d w B