Make-A-Wish surprises 5th-grader with room makeover

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Seth Roach will never forget Thursday thanks to the Make-A-Wish Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana chapter. It’s the day they made his wish come true.

This “is the best day of my life,” Soren said.

In 2013, his mom, Deborah, remembers a different feeling after she started noticing Soren was having issues other kids weren’t having. “I knew something wasn’t right.”

Soren was diagnosed with vascular Ehlers-Danlos syndrome. It’s a rare disease that weakens the tissue in your body.

“It’s like he’s made out of Elmer’s Glue basically,” she said. “You know he’s very fragile and so he has to play it safe. There’s a lot of rules that come with his condition.”

The condition makes it tough for Soren to just go out and be a kid. It’s “a lot of frustration when he comes home and says, ‘I can’t play on the playground because everybody’s playing this kind of ball game and none of my friends want to play with me,’” Deborah said.

Make-A-Wish brought the playground to him. While Soren was away from home, the organization turned his room into a gaming room. Then he got a special visit from his favorite hockey team, the Indy Fuel. That was a surprise not even his mom was in on. She told News 8’s Randall Newsome why she let out some tears of joy.

“My heart just is like bursting right now,” she said. “I mean it’s just the kindness of people this time of year. It’s amazing.”

Soren made the trip back home from the Request-A-Thon to a new room and players from the Indy Fuel gave him a game jersey and a signed hockey stick.

“It’s going to be like a trophy, a prized possession,” Soren said.

Make-A-Wish plans to help 500 more kids across Indiana.