BEAVER CREEKS EXPERIENCE OF A LIFETIME FOR MAKE A WISH
Isabelle Dunai’s battle with multiple chronic illnesses is complicated but her wish with the Make A Wish Foundation was simple – mountains, snow, campfires and coffee. So, when Beaver Creek was asked if the family could take a gondola ride, the team was all over it…but they decided to take her on a different kind of ride. This is what Own It. Personalize It. Elevate It. looks like.
The Dunai family was staying at the Ritz-Carlton Bachelor Gulch for Isabelle’s Make A Wish weekend when a representative reached out to Stacie Mesuda, Beaver Creek Senior Communications & Public Relations Specialist, to coordinate a gondola ride for them. Thrilled to be a part of their Colorado experience, Stacie and the Beaver Creek Ambassadors & Adaptive Ski School Program wanted to surprise Isabelle and take the request and elevate the experience. Here’s what they did:
- Greeting by an avy dog at the gondola
- Cookies & cocoa for the gondola ride up
- Lunch at SaddleRidge for the family
- Surprise monoski ride down the mountain for Isabelle
So, how did it go? We caught up with Beaver Creek Ambassador New New Wallace to find out.
New New got to hang out with 17-year-old Isabelle and her family for the day. This was New New’s first time working with a Make A Wish request but there couldn’t have been a better person to bring the experience to fruition. Her official job title is Ski School Ambassador, which is a unique position specific to Beaver Creek, and her job is, as she so perfectly puts it, “To ski around the mountain and spread sunshine and love, and help anyone who needs it.”
Here’s New New’s recap of the day (you might want to grab a tissue):
I got the special assignment 24 hours before and got on Isabelle’s website to get some background on her. This is an amazing girl – beautiful, amazing, courageous…in with everything. Talk about putting things into perspective. It was just six weeks ago that her illnesses took her ability to walk. We wanted to do something special and it was truly a team effort. Everyone was in and it was really all about the spirit – we included the smiliest people and wanted to provide an uplifting day all the way around so we put together an amazing team for this.
Everyone’s been treating her like a sick person. And she is very sick. But from the minute I greeted her, she was just like any other kid at Beaver Creek. Isabelle is so funny and smart – she makes everyone around her laugh. She can’t walk, she’s on an oxygen tank and her body is failing her but her mind is as sharp as ever. She is really an amazing soul and everyone around her was beaming. We all laughed all day long. And this was the most courageous, funny, smart family that I’ve ever met. Ever. They make you realize you don’t really have any problems.
Her wish was to be together with her family in the Colorado mountains and she just wanted to take a gondola so the fact that we skied her down was a total surprise. When we gave her the choice to take the gondola or ski, she was ecstatic about skiing – so brave with such a go-for-it spirit. In an article that ran in the Vail Daily about her experience, Isabelle was quoted saying, “It’s one of the most magical experiences I’ve ever had, with some of the most magical people I’ve ever met. They surprised me.”
This could only really happen this beautifully and this seamlessly at Beaver Creek. Beaver Creek is a tightknit family. Magic happens right here. And it was a magical day. We didn’t give Isabelle the gift – she was an amazing gift to Beaver Creek. She elevated everyone around her.
After Isabelle’s trip, she posted about her experience on her website: “Dear Colorado, I will forever have a piece of my heart flourishing in your mountains. You made my parents and sisters the happiest and relaxed I have seen them in a while. You filled their hearts and souls with memories to keep as long as time exists. I wanted to give you a simple letter of gratitude. It’s the least I can do. Forever thankful, Isabelle.”
Follow Isabelle’s Fight and read more about her Colorado experience.