Sultan's Wish to Have a Backyard Playhouse | Make-A-Wish Southern Nevada

Learn more about 6-year-old Sultan and how his wish brought together a community.
Sultan is not your typical six-year-old. Growing up with parents who speak both French and English and grandparents who speak Arabic, he can speak and count in all three languages. But he is typical in the sense that Sultan just wants to play and be active, especially when it involves playing outside.
Playing outside can be difficult in Las Vegas, where it can reach upwards of 110 degrees during the summer. It’s even more difficult for Sultan, who suffers from spina bifida - a birth defect that occurs when the bones of the spine don’t form properly around the child’s spinal cord - and a weakened immune system that rules out public playgrounds. In the more severe cases, like in Sultan’s case, the child can have little or no feeling in their legs as well as scoliosis.
For the longest time, Sultan had no feeling in his legs at all. He didn’t even feel when he broke his femur one day. But daily therapy is proving effective. Part of his therapy includes standing for upwards of 35 minutes a day. Even more than the therapy, the biggest factor contributing to his recovery is Sultan’s will. And more than anything Sultan loves to do this therapy outside where he can see the trees and watch the sunrise. When thinking about his wish, it became clear that the most meaningful wish would be one that allowed Sultan to enjoy the feeling of being outside, in view of trees and sunlight, but protected from the elements that can cause him harm: a playhouse.
For Make-A-Wish Southern Nevada®, granting Sultan’s wish was an opportunity to engage partners with an equal passion for our mission in helping us grant our 2,000th wish. In sharing Sultan’s story, a community came together to become a part of Sultan’s wish journey. Through the incredible generosity of community construction partners, Sultan’s wish to have an outdoor playhouse came true. Upon walking into his playhouse for the first time, Sultan exclaimed “Wow!” With this wish, Sultan now has a place of his own to play, to grow stronger, and experience the joy of many sunrises to come.
Thank you to all the amazing community partners who helped make Sultan’s wish come true!
To read the full story, visit bit.ly/Sultan-MAWSNV
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[@craigolson6311]

Good job!

[@andrespears7923]

God bless Sultan. Well done M.A.W the playroom looks wonderful and heartfelt.

[@minty.bliss.]

These always make me cry 😭

[@jasonkelly3797]

This is so nice of them