I love these stories!
While doing work for The Granted Wish Foundation, Cleveland Browns quarterback Brady Quinn made a dream of a lifetime come true for a young fan recovering from heart transplant surgery. Alexandra Courville, 13, of Toledo, Ohio, was surprised when Quinn paid her a personal visit just four days after her surgery.
Quinn was a guest at the foundation’s annual fund-raiser last summer and has met with several disadvantaged children on behalf of the organization, which included his visit with Courville. After being born with a hole in her heart and several open heart surgeries, Courville was placed on the heart transplant list at the Cleveland Clinic. She also received her biggest wish of all, to meet Quinn, who is her hero. Alexandra’s wish was to meet her hero Brady Quinn. After seeing Quinn on YouTube doing work for Granted Wish, she contacted the non-profit foundation. She was invited to a movie premiere he was attending for underprivileged and disabled children. Due to a sudden complication while waiting for a heart to become available, she was unable to attend the event.
When Quinn heard that the young fan was unable to attend, he asked Granted Wish to facilitate the visit at the Cleveland Clinic, which was held four days after her surgery.
“The Granted Wish Foundation helped my dream come true,” Alexandra said. “Those 20 minutes I spent on YouTube has changed my life now and forever. When Brady surprised me, it was just as big of a surprise as my new heart. This visit means a lot more than people think. Brady took time out of his life to come meet with me. Now I’m nothing like I was before. I would someday love to throw a football with him!”
Now Quinn wants to expand his love of helping others through his new role as the National Spokesman for The Granted Wish Foundation, a national, non-profit organization whose mission is “to provide wish fulfillment to disabled, disadvantaged and deserving individuals and families.”
“We’re very pleased and honored to have Brady Quinn work with our organization,” Executive Director Stefanie Coletti said. “We admire his personal character and his genuine willingness to give back. His affiliation will help us provide the life-changing power of granting wishes to more individuals and families who need our help.”
“I’ve been privileged to see the work of The Granted Wish Foundation through experiences like my visit with Alexandra,” Quinn said. “This foundation continues to make such a positive impact on many lives and I am eager to be a part of it. I look forward to my role as the National Spokesman and build a team of life changers to help as many people as we can.”