World Wish Day: Hasbro's Dana Podgurski Shares Full-Circle Moment During Wishes Assemble Event

This week, the Make-A-Wish Foundation is celebrating World Wish Day — and they're not alone. For one, the Walt Disney Company announced its Disney Week of Wishes. Plus, some of the company's various partners have been lending a hand, including Hasbro. As part of a Disney Week of Wishes event, we had a chance to meet Hasbro Marketing's Dana Podgurski, who was nice enough to share her powerful Wish story with us.

When Dana was young, she was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma. She recalls representatives from Make-A-Wish coming to her house and asking her what she'd want her wish to be. This meant a lot to her, as she explained: "At a time when I didn’t really have a lot of control, they gave me a sense of agency and, with such a positive choice to be made, that was such a transformative moment for me."

Dana's wish was to go to Hawaii with her family, which she got to do. Similar to other Wish recipients, Dana says that knowing the trip was coming after her treatment gave her something to look forward to. Unfortunately, about six months after her Wish trip, she learned that she had relapsed. What's more, this bout was worse than the initial prognosis.

It was at this time that her Wish took on a different meaning. Dana said, "That wish became my escape when reality was unbearable. It gave me a memory to lean back on, to reflect on, to focus on, and it reminded me that I was going to have positive things ahead once I got through it."

Thankfully, Dana has now been cancer-free for 26 years. And this week, she's been able to support Make-A-Wish kids by helping them become their favorite superheroes. She said, "This is a full-circle moment for me... Getting to see the families put on the gear and get in front of the camera and embody the superheroes when they themselves are the real superheroes is so surreal. It’s indescribable, and I’m just so excited for these families to have this experience."

To learn more about Make-A-Wish and to donate, be sure to visit Wish.org.