Student receives scholarship from Make-A-Wish Michigan

Many kids with life-threatening conditions who receive wishes granted by Make-A-Wish Michigan are off to a vacation destination or to meet a celebrity.

Jessica LeBlanc wanted to go to Allendale to attend college at Grand Valley.

The Clinton Township native received her wish to be a Laker when Make-A-Wish Michigan granted her a partial scholarship this fall.

LeBlanc, now 18, is majoring in nursing. Two years ago, she underwent a kidney transplant after months of dialysis and hospitalization. LeBlanc said doctors aren’t sure what caused her kidney to fail rapidly. The first symptom she noticed was blurry vision.

“My parents took me to an ophthalmologist to test my vision, and very quickly I was having blood work done and being admitted to the hospital,” LeBlanc said.

She spent about six months on the wait list for a donor kidney. LeBlanc missed most of her senior year in high school and said it was marching band she missed the most; she plays the piccolo.

One of her doctors at University of Michigan Mott Children’s Hospital referred LeBlanc to Make-A-Wish. “I was a senior in high school and I knew I needed a scholarship to go to college to study nursing, so I made my wish for that,” she said.

While LeBlanc didn’t join the Laker Marching Band, she is active on campus, serving on the council for her living center and as a member of Grand Valley’s American Sign Language and Culture Club and its Make-A-Wish Club.

Karen Davis, president and CEO of Make-A-Wish Michigan, said the organization was honored to grant LeBlanc’s wish.

“Jessica’s heartfelt wish was to receive a college scholarship to help further her education, and we are delighted to make this wish come true,” Davis said.

Make-A-Wish Michigan grants more than a wish a day, Davis said.