Make-A-Wish Grants Madison 3-Year-Old Sawyer Cunningham's Wish

MADISON, CT —Sawyer Cunningham is a "chocolate chip and chicken nugget-loving" 3-year-old from Madison. He'd been wishing and hoping for a backyard playset.

Make-A-Wish ® Connecticut granted that wish.

Described as a "ball of energy," the boy had a liver transplant when he was just 9-months-old and battles myriad other medical issues. But he loves playing outdoors, and so his wish was to have "a backyard oasis" that would provide him a safe place to play. His wish list included a fenced-in backyard, a playset, a shaded, covered area, sitting area and storage for all of his outdoor toys.

In a news release from Make-A-Wish ® Connecticut, it's noted that the boy's "neighboring shoreline community rallied around his wish and helped to make Sawyer’s improved backyard a reality."

While Sawyer was away for the day, Make-A-Wish and the community gathered to "prepare the surprise of a lifetime."

"When Sawyer returned and rounded the corner into his backyard, he found his dream playset," the release reads.

“I know that he has a place to grow up in, make memories, be comfortable, have the opportunity to play and have friends over and be with his family,” Sawyer’s mother was quoted as saying.

Once Sawyer landed on his personal playground, he immediately began to climb the playset rock wall, swing on all the swings, slide down the tall green slide and exclaimed, “Me can do this, guys!”

He also received a wooden playhouse, a basketball hoop, dinosaur toys and a trampoline. The new playset, toys, and trampoline give Sawyer the ability to experience freedom, create his own world, let his imagination run wild, have fun and experience a whole new world right in his own backyard.

A special thanks to Scott Silverman for donating lots of fun outdoor play items from Sawyer’s Amazon wish list.

Make-A-Wish is in the business of delivering hope, and hope has never been more important than now for our wish kids. With hope, a child with a critical illness, like Sawyer, finds light in the darkness of their current circumstances. This hope can only be found in a wish. A wish begins with hope, and hope begins with YOU! Donate now at ct.wish.org.