Leon girl's wish comes true

On October 6, 2021 Harper Lorenz, of Leon was diagnosed with leukemia, which is a type of cancer of the blood cells, and she has been battling ever since. The Lorenz family has traveled back and forth to Mayo Clinic, in Rochester, Minnesota, for treatments, at least once a month. Harper’s mother, Kelsey Lorenz said, “Harper's cancer journey has been what seems like a never ending rollercoaster that you so badly want to get off because you’re scared, but you can’t.”

Over the last year, Harper’s journey has been filled with ups and downs in her health. She has done rounds of chemotherapy, gotten eleven or more blood transfusions, platelet transfusions, steroids and more. She has been neutropenic on and off, which means she has too few of a certain type of white blood cells. Kelsey described this last year as “not what I had planned for Harper. We take it day by day."

With all that fighting however, "the local community, businesses, family, friends, and so many people have helped along her journey so far, with fundraisers, gifts, meals and so much more," said Kelsey. Harper is not alone in the fight, as another local girl, Ellison Leis, is fighting the same fight against leukemia. The two girls stay in touch and Ellison even dropped off a special gift for Harper on the one year anniversary of her diagnosis. 

Upon diagnosis of leukemia, Harper and her family were presented with a Mayo Clinic family support needs handbook from Harper’s social worker. In that handbook was options for Harper to pursue as coping mechanisms. 

Make-A-Wish Wisconsin was in that handbook. "Harper had different ideas, like a cabin trip or camping for her wish, as she had memories from the past that were so fun,” said Kelsey. Harper's original idea turned into a cabin that herself, sisters, cousins, and friends could camp in whenever she wanted. Make-A-Wish Wisconsin asked Harper to make a Pinterest board with her vision of what she wanted the cabin to look like. They searched around but couldn’t find anything already made that matched her vision. 

That’s when Market & Johnson, a local commercial construction company, got involved. The Special Projects division agreed to take on Harper’s project and built the cabin from the ground up, literally. “They were the most wonderful and kind company to work with,” said Kelsey. Other companies that were involved were Kens Service Center LLC, Three Rivers Drywall & Construction, Kish Sons Electric, Dakota Supply Group, A.J. Overhouse, and JunKin Sisters. 

Harper’s wish came true  Saturday, October 15 when her cabin was delivered to her family's property. Her Family managed to keep it a surprise and reveal the cabin to her in front of family, friends, and some that helped make it happen. “The look on her face when she took her blindfold off was priceless,” said Kelsey. The slideshow video can be found on the Look Out Leukemia! Harper Strong! Facebook page. The cabin features two sets of bunk beds, heat, electrical, and a porch swing with a pillow that says, “My happy place”.

Harper’s sisters Haylee and Harley, along with Kelsey and her dad Nate, all slept in the cabin Saturday night, “The first night of so many memories to be made," said Kelsey. When asked about the cabin, Harper said, “I think the cabin is beautiful, it’s so fun to have sleepovers with my cousins and sisters in there. Thank you very very much.”

The last few weeks haven’t been great in Harper’s cancer battle, so Kelsey said, “the kids cabin couldn’t have come at a better time.”

Harper has an end treatment date of March 4, 2024. Stay #harperstrong. To donate to Make-A-Wish Wisconsin visit wish.org/wisconsin.