On Oct. 6, 2010, this eight-year old boy who bravely endured a seemingly endless series of treatment at the Kapi’olani Medical Center in Hawaii entered the East Room of the White House to meet the president.
Unlike other boys of his age, Blanco did not want to see Disneyland or acquire expensive toys or gadgets.
Blanco told the Variety that when the president asked him what he wanted, he asked Obama to visit the CNMI.
“I was so happy to meet the president, and I asked him to come and help the people and make the CNMI a better place to live in,” Blanco said.
He got the chance to talk with the Secret Service agents, meet Senate President Pro-Tempore Daniel Inouye and saw the president board Marine One. He also received a special coin and a pin from the White House.
Blanco’s father John who accompanied the child said his son “acted so natural upon meeting the president, as though he was just meeting another friend at school.”
John Blanco said Obama was born in the same hospital where his son is getting his treatment.
“Obama told us that he lived in a house just across from Kapi’olani Medical Center and went to school in the same area,” John Blanco said.
He said while in the nation’s capital, they rode on limousines and stayed at the Hyatt Regency near the White House for a week.
The Blanco family — John, Juan, his sister Lisa, brother Calvin Esha, mother Pearl and grandmother Lisa Sablan — were among the special guests at the Hyatt Golf Classic awarding night at the local Hyatt on Saturday evening. The proceeds from the event were for the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
Make-A-Wish Foundation Guam board members Eric Tydingco and Eric Votaw joined the Blancos at their table.
Votaw said that for the past two years, the foundation had been trying to make Juan Blanco’s wish come true.
“The president’s office grants only about 10 wishes a year, and we get thousands of requests from kids all over the nation. We were just waiting for the availability of the president’s schedule,” he said.
Votaw said in its 23 years of operation, the Make-a-Wish Foundation on Guam has made 198 wishes come true.
“Some wishes are just very simple, like they want to go to Disneyland, shopping at Macy’s, and other wishes that are easier to fulfill but for Juan Blanco’s wish, we had to wait for the right schedule,” he said.
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