Make A Wish

Eskimos players are already living their dream as professional athletes.

During practice on Monday, the team shared a piece of that dream with a special guest —In cooperation with the Make-A-Wish foundation, the Edmonton Eskimos hosted 15-year-old AJ Maher at practice.

AJ was diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis, a genetic disorder that primarily affects the lungs and digestive track.

His dream was to experience the life of a pro football player, a thought that seemed too ambitious when he first made his wish.

“I asked Make-A-Wish if they could give me some workout equipment and mentioned that I like football,” he says. “They just ran with that idea I guess, and now we’re here.”

AJ plays fullback for the Sherwood Park Wolverines and is a massive Eskimos fan.

Before practice he was given an Eskimos jersey with his name and the No. 34 on the back, paying homage to Bo Jackson.

Joining the team on field at the end of practice, he broke down the huddle, hung out with players and coaches, held a media conference on field and tossed the ball around with QB Mike Reilly.

His16-year-old sister Alianna joined him to document the day.

Also diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis, her wish was to receive all of the materials necessary to document AJ’s experience with the Eskimos and create a video for it.

She stood on the sidelines, with her brand new camera and lens, capturing every minute of AJ’s time with the team.

“The fact that the Eskimos reached out to us and let us do the whole video story part has just been so cool,” says Alianna.

She got into film making as a way to express herself and to raise awareness of the impact that CF can have on a person’s life.

“I didn’t know how to talk to people about (CF) and get the story out, so I made a video about it,” she says. “The video sort of blew up, and I said ‘this is it, I love doing this’.”

For the siblings, the afternoon wasn’t so much about having a fun experience as much as realizing their passions.

AJ’s has channeled his focus into preserving his body. He cut out junk food and is working toward becoming professional weight lifter.

“I was into games and I said I want to stop this and take up athletics,” AJ says. “I put my computer away and my XBox and I got started.”

AJ and Alianna’s mom was in the stands to watch the events unfold.

“It came at a time where it was really good for the kids to embrace what was important to them in life, what they value,” Keirra says. “For AJ, he fights the disease by keeping his body strong because he can control that.”

“Ally works very hard to fight the disease by being aware and sharing that awareness. It was neat that their Make-A-Wishes sort of played into that, so emotionally that had a huge impact.”

Their wishes are not fully fulfilled just yet.

The Eskimos have invited the entire family back to Commonwealth Stadium for the October 17 game against the BC Lions – with a few more special moments planned.