Make-A-Wish: ‘Dreams really do come true’

Rich Palzewic

Staff

December 9, 2024

MARSHFIELD – For one Loyal youngster, dreams really come true.

With help from the Boson Company and Make-A-Wish Wisconsin, 11-year-old Camron Littlefield got the treehouse he was waiting for.

Despite another Wisconsin winter beginning to settle in, Camron, who was born with cystic fibrosis (CF) – a genetic disorder that causes the body to produce thick, sticky mucus that can damage organs and lead to other health problems – is now playing in his treehouse.

“He loves it,” Heidi Littlefield, Camron’s mother, said about the treehouse on the family’s property. “With Camron and his cystic fibrosis and autism, I thought it would be great for him to have his own little space where he can go and hang out and chill and have sensory items in there. Then, with his friends, he gets to say, ‘Hey guys, this is my treehouse.’”

Boson Project Manager Nick Anderson said working with Make-A-Wish and the Littlefield family on the treehouse “gave me a warm and fuzzy feeling to help out.”

“It was another part of helping us keep our mission statement intact of helping out the community,” he said. “We also took our expertise of being a construction professional with our knowledge to do the treehouse project. I think we were the right fit for the project, so that’s why it was a bit more special.”

Heidi said the Boson team “was amazing to work with.”

“They were so amazing that I was like, ‘Oh, I have to go make chocolate chip cookies for them,’” she laughed. “I could go out there and talk to them anytime I wanted. There were a few things along the way they questioned on the design and that I had wanted different, too. Literally, within like five minutes, Pat (Guensburg), the one in charge, totally redesigned it. Those design changes made it easier for them, made the treehouse safer and was exactly what I wanted. The treehouse is so over-engineered and solid – that thing is going to last forever.”

Heidi said the treehouse “lets Camron forget about things for a little while.”

“When Nick came over, he could see how much fun Camron was having with his friends,” she said. “Camron doesn’t always get a lot of chances to just be a normal kid and feel good and be excited about things because there is always medicine, always treatments and so many doctor appointments. I can see this being a wonderful thing for him.”

Heidi said the treehouse has already helped her son get to school on a more regular basis, too.

“One day before school – he has a hard time going to school – he ran out there to his treehouse and chilled out,” she said. “I thought, ‘This is so perfect that he’s using it as his own space to calm and focus for the day.’”

Camron’s situation

Heidi said her son’s situation is “complicated.”

She said Camron was eight days old when they found out he had CF.

“With CF, there are two ‘broken’ genes,” she said. “Pretty much since he was 10 days old, he’s been taking medicine every time he eats. He also needs at least two breathing treatments a day, 30 minutes each. When he’s sick, he needs more.”

Heidi said CF is mostly known as a lung disease, but in most cases, other parts of the body are greatly affected.

“For example, Camron’s pancreas is blocked with thick mucus,” she said. “That’s why he has to take medicine because he can’t digest, so he has a feeding tube. He also has autism on top of the CF, so that complicates things even more.”

Because of his autism, Heidi said it’s hard for Camron to socialize.

“He’s a very smart kid, but emotionally and socially, he’s about five years old,” she said. “He’s 11, so that’s challenging because people think, ‘Oh, he’s so smart, and he understands things.’ I think in school, they expect more of him, but he can’t because of the other sensory issues.”

Heidi said there are a lot of different combinations of CF.

“Camron has the most common combination,” she said. “So in the last two years, with the combination of CF Camron has, a new medicine called Trikafta has come out. The medication can really prolong his life. Trikafta is a total game-changer drug. It doesn’t fix all CF situations because there are different combinations, but for Camron, it does.”

Though Heidi said she hasn’t really noticed much of a change yet in Camron since beginning Trikafta, she said she’s hopeful.

“Partially, the new medication keeps more damage from happening,” she said. “He still needs the treatments and all the medicines, but he’ll live a lot longer. When we found out he had CF 11 years ago, I think we were told he’d live to maybe 35. Now, life expectancy might even be in the 50s or 60s.”

Even into the future, Heidi said you never know what new medications might exist.

“In the last decade since Camron was diagnosed, a lot has changed positively with CF,” she said. “It’s a complicated disease and affects many people daily.”

From a dream to reality

Heidi said after Camron was put on the Make-A-Wish list, eventually, two people from the organization visited the house.

She said it wasn’t an easy decision deciding on the best possible wish.

“(The representatives) discussed what kind of a wish would work best for Camron,” she said. “I think the hardest part was narrowing it down. I didn’t want to mess this up and choose the wrong thing. The possibilities are endless, but (with his autism), Camron is very black and white. If I told him we were going to LEGOLAND tomorrow, he could grasp that. But with this treehouse, it was going to take months to plan and build. He had a hard time understanding the process.”

Heidi said in the end, she wanted something her son could utilize for years down the road.

“Sure, swimming with dolphins would have been great, but I’m not sure that would have been the best thing for Camron,” she said. “If I had picked something like that, I would have had to hope he was feeling well that weekend and in a good mood. With choosing a treehouse, I know for at least the next few years, he will find lots of joy in it.”

From there, Anderson said Boson got involved in the project.

“Associated General Contractors (AGC) of Wisconsin was approached by Make-A-Wish with this project,” he said. “We are members of AGC, and the board knew we would be a good fit, and it’s in our community.”

Anderson said planning for the treehouse began this past spring.

“After we found out it was a treehouse, we used some construction software to then design and put the dream on paper,” he said. “We worked with the family to get input from them as well – what they liked, what they wanted changed, etc.”

Once the design was finalized, Anderson said the materials were ordered.

“Then I got involved with assembling the team that was going to do the project,” he said. “We really thought it was beneficial for a project like this to have one or more skilled carpenters on site – one as a worker and one as a supervisor. Staab Construction and Mid-Wisconsin Excavating donated labor to this project as well, so they were a part of this, too.”

Anderson said the material for the treehouse was purchased through Make-A-Wish, but all the labor was provided free of charge.

What’s inside?

Because the treehouse was only recently completed in early November, Heidi said they are still working on filling the inside space – but so far includes a couch made of foam pieces.

“You can design and make different things out of it and play with it or just use it as a couch,” she said. “I’m planning on filling it with sensory items. So far, we have some Nerf bow-and-arrows out there, too.”

Heidi said Camron loves being on the bridge of the treehouse, too.

“With the cold weather and Camron being sick lately, we haven’t spent a lot of time out there yet, but he loves going in there and playing card games, reading or just playing inside.”

Heidi said there’s also a set of swings attached to the bottom of the bridge.

“I’m sure as the weather warms up next spring and summer, it’s inevitable we’ll probably spend some nights out there sleeping,” she laughed. “Camron and I love the snow, and especially because it’s higher up, I can see us building snow forts underneath. I really think we’ll get good use of it in the wintertime, too.”

A little background on Boson

Boson is now up to the fourth generation of a family owned business, Anderson said.

“We’re proud to be here that long,” he said. “I’d describe us as a general contractor who specializes mostly in guest-occupied facilities. That would include food, dairy, industrial, worship, financial, government buildings, highway facilities, etc.”

Anderson said Boson has done work in about nine states.

“(When we go to other states), most of the time that is because we are following a repeat customer,” he said.

Anderson said Boson’s main focus is collaboration.

“I feel our strength is working together with owners, architects and suppliers to collaborate, work together and ultimately achieve our goals at the end of the project, which is budget and schedule,” he said. “We really pride ourselves on building those relationships to work together on future projects.”

Anderson, who said Boson has about 40 employees between the office and the field, does not work on the residential side of things.

“We used to be in the residential sector, but somewhere along the way we made the switch,” he said. “I think we got to a manpower and expertise level where we realized we were a good fit for the commercial industry.”

Community involvement

Though the treehouse for Camron was a big source of pride for Boson, Anderson said the company has always been active in the community.

“I’ve only been here for a short duration of seven years, but (community service) has been something we suggest to our employees,” he said. “We pride ourselves on giving back to the communities we all live and work in.”

Anderson said Boson sends out regular newsletters to its employees to spearhead community involvement.

“If an employee lets us know in advance, we encourage them to take part in community service activities,” he said. “Employees will still get paid on company time while doing community service. We see the value of our employees being out in the community.”

Anderson said Boson makes financial contributions to larger projects as well.

“One such example was to the Marshfield High School pickleball courts,” he said. “We also contributed to Vandehey Waters (Aquatic Center) in Marshfield and a public library. Our employees, way back until now, have been involved in the Kiwanis basketball leagues and paying for jerseys. We try to help – whether it’s with youth or just the community – financially to achieve whatever their goal or mission is.”

With such a big focus on community, Anderson said “Boson is much more than a construction company.”

“We knew (about) Camron’s situation, and we wanted to help,” he said. “Camron was another person in our community who needed our help, and we needed to help. That’s why we were more than happy when that opportunity came up from Make-A-Wish.”