Troy Ross has been battling pulmonary capillaritis for the last two years. But his illness took a back seat while him and his family took the vacation of lifetime, thanks to the Make-a-Wish Foundation.
Hailey Sutton / SWX
“I mean from the time we left our house with the police escort, and the VIP SUV from Blacked Out 406. it was just really cool to see the outreach of people. I mean, it’s hard not to look at Troy and smile,” said Callie Ross, Troy’s mom.
The Ross family spent a week exploring all the Disney World parks. Troy even got to meet all his favorite heroes.
But the family says the trip was more than a vacation; it was a relief.
“It was awesome not to have a week of treatment, and not worrying about doctors or anything. I don’t think I asked him one time how he felt. He just multiple times said ‘This is the best day ever!’ So every day just got a little bit better I think,” Callie said.
“It was just fantastic to see the smiles and the giggles and just for him to be a normal kid for a while, you know?” added Wes Ross, who is Troy’s father and the Bison football o-line coach.
Perhaps the greatest part was hanging his star on in the Castle of Miracles. A small piece of Troy, to be visited for years to come.
“As his family, any of us can go and look at his star any time we want, and it’ll be there forever. That was a really touching ceremony just to see all those stars and to have him have a visual symbol that he’s a miracle that he’s here, so it’s very touching,” said Callie.
Now back at school, Callie says Troy is already ready to go back, but the memories he’s made will hopefully be enough to help him continue being #TroyStrong.
“To see Troy and Kennedy get to experience that, it was pretty cool,” Wes said.
So how did Troy feel about the trip?
“This was the best trip ever!”
