A Barbie Dream: local girl gets her wish

PEORIA (WEEK) - 11- year-old Luz Rodriguez spent many days in the hospital receiving treatment for epilepsy. Her mother said there was one thing she always asked for to help get through it.

“Every time that she’s going worse, the only thing that she keeps thinking about is about Barbies and getting Barbies in the hospital,” Rodriguez’s mother Jeanette Sandoval said.

When Rodriguez had a chance to wish for anything in the world, the answer was clear, a Barbie Dream House of her own.

“Something like this is like making her feel better, like having her own place when she don’t feel good. She normally gets so anxious when there’s a lot of people around. She can stay for a little being good but right after she just wants to be in a quiet place,” Sandoval said.

When Rodriguez saw the house for the first time she was overjoyed for a place to call her own - filled with her idol.

The house had a bed for luz and her dog, a play kitchen and a table. It was filled with bright lights- a special request from Rodriguez who is visually impaired.

Pekin’s carpenter’s appetencies teamed up with Make-A-Wish and several other local organizations to make this happen for Rodriguez.

“Wishes are important for children with critical illness because they provide that boost to their resilience at a time where they are struggling with their critical illness,” Janet Bantz-Glavin from Make-A-Wish Illinois said.

Luz said she was already loving her new home and could not believe her dream came true.

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