Teen has wish granted for customized car
|
While that dream might be unattainable for most, his dream came one step closer to reality this week through local support of the Make a Wish Foundation and sales at the local Bath and Body Works store, which provided the means for Scruggs to customize his 2001 Ford Mustang convertible, which was a gift from his mother.
Scruggs is battling a rare form of adolescent bone cancer.
“We didn’t get the easy to the mild,” his mother, Kay Scruggs, said of her son’s illness. “We went straight into the bad. We didn’t have time.”
Like many teens his age, Josh Scruggs said he has had a vision of having the ultimate car. Tuesday’s announcement from the Make a Wish Foundation, whose mission is to grant the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions, brought a smile to his face.
“I started thinking about what I could do to it, and decided I wanted spinners on it,” he said of learning he was in the running to have his wish granted. “I wanted to make it sound good and basically, I talked to somebody about different parts and made a list.”
That list – 20-inch wheels, tires and spinners, a “Flowmaster” exhaust, a “Stalker” body kit, a burnt-orange paint job, “euro” tail lights, neon lights, a “Jet” performance module, cold air intake and a styling bar – eventually made its way into the hands of Wade Whittmore, owner of Riverside Custom Accessories on North Chancery Street.
Whittmore, who decided to donate his labor and who is asking distributors and others to donate whatever goods and services they can to the cause, said when it’s all said and done, Scruggs’ car will be an enviable piece of machinery with thousands of dollars worth of work done to it.
“He’s going to have one of the nicest cars around, for several counties, for a 16-year-old,” Whittmore said, noting it will be ready in a little more than a month depending on when ordered parts arrive.
“I’m tickled that he’s getting what he wants for sure, but it still breaks my heart because he’s so sick,” Kay Scruggs said of seeing her son’s wish come true.
Being able to customize the car is the result of sales of candles and gift cards at Bath and Body Works stores over the holidays. The local Bath and Body Works had some of the highest sales in the nation, store manager Paula McCorkle said, which is what led to Scruggs’ wish being granted.
According to Make a Wish Foundation representative Susan McFarlin, Scruggs is one of 39 children nationwide whose wishes were provided in part by Bath and Body Works holiday promotions. About $4,000 in proceeds from Bath and Body Works sales was donated to the cause, according to the organization, although costs of wishes are not released.
“We always told them when they bought a candle or a gift card that part of the proceeds would go to the Make a Wish Foundation,” McCorkle of the local store said of encouraging customers to purchase the items during the holidays.
“It thrills me,” Scruggs said of getting his wish granted. “I’ve always wanted a nice car. You just always see cars that you wish you had something like that … They worked hard and I’m glad they could do such a thing and local people were buying the candles to help out with it. It makes me feel special,” he added of local efforts.
PHOTO INFO:
Josh Scruggs, left, gets his wish granted from the Make a Wish Foundation, which was the result of holiday sales at Bath and Body Works in Three Star Mall. Pictured from right are Tanya Sturn and Susan McFarlin of the foundation, Phyllis Prater and Paula McCorkle of Bath and Body Works, mall employees, customers and others who gathered at the store for the announcement Tuesday. (Amy Satterwhite photo)