Luke and his family outside the Louvre Museum
“When Luke was given a chef’s hat, it went to his head, and he started giving orders,” Nicole Cloutier said.
By, Terra Rivers, Managing Editor
On July 25, a 13-year-old warrior and his family set out for a five and half day adventure in Paris.
On Sept. 16, 2015, Luke Edmunds was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia, a fast-growing cancer with a 26 percent survival rate. Due to the intensive chemotherapy used to treat AML, Luke was hospitalized the same day of his diagnosis and called his hospital room his home for six months.
Treatment would go on to cause damage to his heart; on Valentine’s Day of 2016, his doctors diagnosed him with heart failure and were unsure if they would be able to keep him alive.
Luke had always wanted to go to Paris, so the hospital social workers and the cancer counselors at the cancer center referred him to the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
Almost two years after his diagnosis, his wish came true. Luke and his family took off from the Austin-Bergstrom airport on July 25 for a five-and-a-half-day adventure in Paris. He, his mother, Nicole Cloutier, stepfather, David Glickler, stepsister, Morgan and stepbrother, Austin stayed at an Airbnb instead of a hotel.
“Paris was amazing,” Nicole said. “The Airbnb made it feel like we lived there. At one point, we even got irritated at all the tourists that invaded our area of town.”
While in Paris, Luke visited the Louvre Museum and the Eiffel tower; through the Make-A-Wish foundation, he was also given the opportunity to cook with a French chef.
Nicole said the family made veal, which was fabulous. “When Luke was given a chef’s hat, it went to his head, and he started giving orders,” she said.
She continued to say that France was beautiful and full of history. The family even stumbled upon a castle that wasn’t on the suggest sites list.
“We had heard that Parisians are rude,” Nicole said. “That they hate Americans. And that they would pretend to not speak English. But we experienced the opposite. Everyone was nice and helpful. Service was wonderful. The food was incredible. It was an amazing experience.”
Glicker, Hays County Judge at the Court of Law #2, said the trip was exhausting; the family attended several events every day.
“We tried to see as much as we could,” Nicole said. “We would definitely go back. And we would recommend to anyone going that they should stay at an Airbnb instead of a hotel. It really made the experience better.”
While Luke is officially in remission, it’ll be another three years before he is considered cancer-free, and there is a fifty percent chance he will relapse. But thanks to the Make-A-Wish Foundation, this courageous, tough young man got to experience his French heritage and see the Mona Lisa.
Read Luke’s Full Story Here. Below are pictures taken from their trip.
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