PENBROOK, DAUPHIN COUNTY, Pa. (WHTM) -- A teenager from Penbrook is getting a wish granted in June, but that is not the end of her story. How that wish is granted is a little unusual -- and a little extra special.
When you hear about kids getting wishes granted, it is usually something like a trip to Disneyland. However, this 16-year-old chose something a little more practical and ended up with much more than she expected.
Mom Lacey Geib usually spends most of her time in the garden with her kids, but in 2019, her life changed when her teenage daughter Syliee Williams suddenly fell sick.
"One day she woke up and she was blind in one eye," Geib said.
After seeing specialists and getting many tests done, Williams was diagnosed with Crohn's disease.
"Her intestines were completely full of ulcers," Geib said.
Treatments were not working, and Williams kept getting worse.
"I feel like I've been stripped from everything that I used to be," she said.
Three years later, at 16, Williams finally went through surgery and started doing better.
"It's not going to, I'm not going to change overnight," she said. "I know that I will get better."
Through the process, Geib learned her daughter was eligible for Make-A-Wish.
"They ended up accepting her into the program," Geib said.
Williams wished for braces, something she has wanted for years.
"I've always worried about my appearance," she said.
Geib said she remembers her daughter talking about it as a child.
"Since she was like six years old, she's like 'Can I get braces?'" Geib said.
Geib took Williams to an orthodontist's office in Camp Hill, where Dr. Joseph Diminick first heard Williams' story.
"What kid wishes for orthodontics as their wish? I think every kid should have straight teeth," Diminick, an orthodontist at Hilton-Diminick Orthodontics, said.
Diminick decided to donate the braces -- Invisalign, in this case -- and procedures for free, and he asked Make-A-Wish to grant Williams one more wish.
"I just feel that I'd like her to go to Disneyworld like I said or meet a celebrity, "Diminick said.
Geib said when she heard the news from Diminick's office, she cried.
"I think one of the greatest gifts you could ever give a mom is loving her child," Geib said. "To just give so freely is amazing."
Williams said her second wish was an easy decision.
"I definitely want a cat," she said. "I've always wanted one."
Williams is allergic to most cats, so she is getting a hairless Sphinx cat. She said cats match her "chill" personality.
"You see that they're just sitting, on their owner, on the windowsill or just on the couch," she said.
Williams said she knows getting better is still a process, but she and her mom said these wishes have already helped.
"Within a week, I saw her smiling, a real smile that I haven't seen in three years," Geib said.
"I'm trying not to look at the negatives and lean toward the positive things because I'm grateful," Williams said.
Williams will head back to the orthodontist in late June to get her new Invisalign, and she said she hopes the cat will arrive a few weeks after that.
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