Virus snags local Make-A-Wish family's plans

TILTON — Ellah Murray has endured more hardship in her three years of life than most people will before they reach 83. She was born premature, and survives today thanks to a team of specialists and therapists who have helped to address the complications that have arisen.

The past three years have also been hard on her family, and so it was with enthusiasm that the family contacted the newspaper earlier this month to announce their gratitude for being awarded a “wish” from Make A Wish NH. Ellah and her family would be able to go to Disneyworld for a vacation, and they would leave March 18.

Within a week, though, the concerns surrounding coronavirus had grown to the point that Make-A-Wish organizations around the country came together to make a heart-wrenching decision. Until it was clear that the virus, and the disease it causes, COVID-19, was no longer a threat, “wishes” involving travel will be put on hold.

“We are really, really hyper-focused on keeping the wish kids, the wish families, volunteers and our communities, everyone, safe,” said Julie Baron, CEO at Make-A-Wish NH. The local organization came to the conclusion along with the federation of 60 local Make-A-Wish organizations around the country, in concert with the national umbrella organization, she said. “As a group of CEOs and Make-A-Wish America, we have all made the difficult decision to postpone wish travel for the time being. This doesn’t mean we aren’t going to do the wishes, it just means that we are delaying some of them.”

Baron said that her organization is in the process of reaching out to families with a wish taking place in March to discuss postponing it; families with a wish taking place in April should be aware that they might have to delay, too.

“We’re just postponing a little, we’re waiting and seeing,” Baron said. “We are really committed to our families, and that these children get their heartfelt wish.”

Last year, Make-A-Wish NH granted 92 wishes – about one every four days. Baron said she expects to do around the same, maybe a few more, this year. Some will have to be pushed back, though.

Ellah’s parents, Mike and Stephanie Murray, understand the decision, though they said it was still “heartbreaking.”

“We were looking for a break, this has been hell,” Stephanie Murray said of their first three years of parenthood. “We were looking forward to this for months.”

Ellah weighed less than two pounds when she was born just 24 weeks into her gestation. She has been through 14 surgeries, brain bleeds and a coma. She requires a tracheostomy tube, and a feeding tube, to survive.

She gets a little unsettled when her parents connect her feeding tube, and they’ve found that they can put on a Disney movie to keep her calm enough to sit still.

“She loves everything Disney,” said Ellah’s father, Mike Murray. Her medical complications have led to developmental delays, so Ellah isn’t yet verbal. But, her father said, it’s not hard for him to tell how she’s feeling. “We were looking forward to seeing her walk up with her walker to Mickey and Minnie, she gets so excited in her face.”

In fact, Ellah is typically a joyful little girl, who greets people with a smile, despite her difficult life. That life has been taxing for her parents, who got married after she was born, but haven’t been able to take a honeymoon or vacation because of Ellah’s medical odyssey.

“This was going to be our first vacation as a family,” Stephanie Murray said of their disappointment. However, she added that she and her husband remain grateful for Make-A-Wish NH. “It is heartbreaking, but we completely understand… We know there is a light at the end of the tunnel.”

“We’re so thankful for Make-A-Wish, none of this would have been able to happen (without the organization), and for all the people that donate to Make-A-Wish, we really appreciate,” she said.

Travel doldrums

The coronavirus has given the local travel industry a jolt it hasn’t felt in nearly two decades, since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Kim Terrio, executive vice president at Penny Pitou Travel, in Laconia, said they’ve decided to postpone their annual “Passport to the World Travel Show.”

The event, originally scheduled to take place on March 28, has now been pushed back to November.

Business has been “rather erratic” for Lakes Region Airport Shuttle, according to Don St. Gelais, owner and president of the Northfield-based service company. “We’re seeing a lot of rescheduling and cancellations,” he said, and people calling because they came home early out of fear of being stranded outside of the country.

St. Gelais said the situation has been unsettling for his company.

“You don’t know where the bottom is. You don’t know if this is for a month, or if it’s going to go on for several months,” St. Gelais said. “It also makes the employees nervous, because they need their jobs, they need their income.”

Some business travelers will likely still need to get to and from the airport, he said, though telecommunication technology is chipping away at that need. And, he added, the majority of his clients are traveling for pleasure, not business.

“We’ve got a lot of regulars that use our services, they’ve been doing business with us for more than a decade. We’ve noticed that they’ve pulled back a bit, they’re being selective about when and where they’re traveling.”

St. Gelais said travelers have good reason to take sensible precautions. “I think individuals being a little apprehensive about being in large crowds, in large public places, is probably understandable,” he said. “That vacation will be there in six months from now. I guess, how much value do you place on your health?”

What does it mean for his business?

“We’re hoping that, like most businesses, this is short-lived and we can get back to some normalcy. But I guess we’ll wait and see,” St. Gelais said.

If history is any predictor, the fall in business will be followed by a rebound, Terrio said. After the Sept. 11 attacks, business was slack until about December of that year – and then it “was crazy.”

“We, as a population, love to travel – and we really don’t like it when we can’t,” Terrio said. “People are so resilient, once they see things starting to quiet down, they’re going to start traveling.”