Stewart shows pride for his new ride

by Cori Hilsgen

news@thenewsleaders.com

Sartell resident Jackson Stewart’s golf cart is no ordinary cart; it’s a wish come true.

That is why he shows a great deal of pride for his new Sabre blue “kitty-kat” golf cart.

His mother, Kat Stewart, said he often uses a cloth to wipe off the dust on the cart because he wants it to look nice. She said he’s also proud of the fact he gets to choose where he sits in the cart.

“He knows it’s his and knows he can boot others out of seats if they are in the one he wants to sit in,” Kat said.

Jackson is shy and doesn’t say a lot to people he doesn’t know well. When asked how he likes his new ride, Kat said he will often respond with “Awesome.”

Jackson has been riding around almost daily in his new cart. He’s even been riding in it on rainy days, unless it was heavily raining. Because Jackson has trouble walking and doing other physical activities, the cart helps him get around.

His family lives on five acres of land outside the city limits, and they have a trail Jackson can ride around on to explore his surroundings.

Jackson, 8, will be a fourth-grader at Oak Ridge Elementary School next year.

At 2-and-a-half years old, he was diagnosed with Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a disease which causes progressive degeneration of muscles, as well as weakness. Life expectancy for the disease is usually about 25 years.

With the disease, muscle weakness can first affect the muscles of the hips, pelvic area, thighs and shoulders and later the skeletal muscles in the arms, legs and trunk. By the early teens, the heart and respiratory muscles may also be affected.

Kat said Jackson is currently pretty healthy. He takes a steroid drug in the form of a pill that helps build up his muscles to fight against the rate of break down caused by the disease. He has appointments at the Gillette Hospital and is also part of an experimental research study at the University of Minnesota.

His Make-A-Wish golf cart was given to him at a ceremony April 28 at Oak Ridge Elementary School.

Kat said the ceremony was wonderful and included many elementary and high school students. Coborn’s stores and Kretschmar, who contribute to Make-A-Wish, catered sandwiches and snacks for the event.

The Sartell High School Student Council originally came up with the idea to help with the Make-A-Wish project for Jackson. Advisor Karri Fredrickson, who coordinates the student council, checked with the Stewart family to see if the students could help.

Kat said they had just applied in September for Make-A-Wish shortly before Fredrickson contacted them, so the timing of everything was perfect.

After the student council adopted Jackson’s Make-A-Wish, many other people became involved with his cause.

They raised funds by selling homecoming T-shirts, school buttons, pom-poms, a Fun Fest held in March and more. The council raised enough money for Jackson’s wish and for two other wishes.

“We were so thankful a group of high-school students was so motivated to contact an organization like Make-A-Wish and was so selfless to raise funds,” Kat said. “They were so excited to be a part of it, and everyone in the community has been so positive and generous.”

Kat said her family is so very thankful for the kindness of all the people who wanted to help be a part of this for their son.

She said Coborn’s and Kretschmar contacted their family to ask if Jackson’s photo could be used at their locations to promote Make-A-Wish. He became well-known statewide because of their posters and more.

Kat said friends have told them they have seen Jackson’s photo at various locations.

Kat and her husband, Josh, both work for the Sartell-St. Stephen School District. Kat is a science teacher at the Sartell Middle School and Josh is a special-education teacher at Sartell High School.

Jackson has a brother, Rowan, 6; and sister, Jocelyn, 10.

Children with life-threatening medical conditions can be referred for Make-A-Wish, which strives to grant experiences or “wishes” to these children.