• News tips, submissions
• Questions, comments
• Contact webmaster

• Make-A-Wish snowmobile trip was Hudson youth's dream, didn't prove medically hard

Ryan Bollig's dream came true when he traveled to Wyoming for a six-day snowmobile trip, complete with limo service to the Twin Cities international airport, courtesy of the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Wisconsin.

"They were so thorough and so organized," said his father, Steve Bollig, about the foundation and the March 2-7 trip. "There were no cares and no worries."

That was true even though Ryan has cystic fibrosis and needed a liver transplant last summer. His enlarged spleen rubs against other organs if the ride becomes too rough, so six-member travel group had to skip using a bumpy trail to get to Yellowstone Park, and stick with the less traveled wilderness trails and their deep snow. That didn't bother Ryan too much, however, because he had been to Yellowstone in the summer, Steve said.

"Ryan is affected more in the gut then the lungs," Steve said. "So the elevation was less of a problem for him than for his brother, who smokes."

One of the guides for the snowmobile excursions spent an entire day -- from 7 a.m. until after midnight -- with the group and essentially served as an evening chauffeur. Steve said that was typical of the courtesy they were shown.

For more details see the March 28 issue of the Star-Observer.