Make-a-Wish grants Scottsboro teen Alex Baird a home gym during battle with cancer

Story By Katie Hightower

On Oct. 18, a Make-a-Wish reveal party was held at the home of Alex Baird. The reveal gave attendees an inside look at Alex’s new home gym provided by Make-a-Wish. Alex said he looked forward to using the gym and building up his strength.

Alex, a Scottsboro High School student, has fought cancerous Ollier’s disease for the past two years. The critical illness caused him to miss out on sports. He also attended school on a virtual platform for a while and he missed seeing his friends. Alex found himself not only in a battle with cancer, he was also fighting severe depression. 

Alex shared his depressed feelings with his friend, Preston Dover. Preston immediately notified Alex’s parents, Wendy and Josh, about Alex’s depression. Thanks to Preston, the Bairds were able to get Alex additional resources to help him with his fight against depression so he could focus on getting well.

Make-a-Wish was created to give children battling critical illnesses something they need to make it through their battles: hope. According to Make-a-Wish’s website, over 87 percent of those who had their wishes granted saw an improvement in their treatment. Since 1981, Make-a-Wish has granted wishes to hundreds of thousands of children which gave them the hope they needed to continue their fight.

The Bairds learned Alex’s wish was granted at the end of March. In August, a large truck showed up at their house and a crew unloaded pallets of heavy boxes into the road since the truck couldn’t get into the driveway. Nathan Allen, a friend of the Baird’s, went to their house that day with a skid steer from Tim Allen Rents to move the pallets up the Baird’s steep driveway. “He came out to help us right away. He helped so much,” said Josh.

For several weeks, the family worked together to assemble to gym in the evenings on Alex’s low-pain days because he wanted to help with the assembly. Alex’s friend, Preston, helped with the project too. It gave Alex something to look forward to and he enjoyed putting it together. 

Alex said the hardest part of his illness was the pain he felt in his foot and he had a hard time traveling to appointments while missing school and his friends. He said he liked working out because it helped him cope with his illness and gave him an outlet for his stress. He was excited about the new equipment and the large variety of gear. 

“I really like it. It’s cool and it was nice of them to give it to me,” said Alex.

Laura Guthrie and her son, Jaxon, arrived at the party with her dad’s Kona Ice truck and prepared free icees for everyone at the party. Jaxon battled cancer when he was young and his grandfather, Ron Ricker, went into the Kona Ice business after Jaxon finished treatments as a way to give back to the community that helped his grandson. 

Laura said between the community’s help and help from St. Jude, there was no way they would ever be able to pay back everything they received. 

“We’re appreciative of Make-a-wish for helping Alex,” said Laura. “I know we’d never be able to repay everything that was done for us by the community and St. Jude; we never even saw a bill for his treatments. This is our way of giving back.”

The Bairds echoed appreciation for Make-a-Wish, St. Jude and the community for all of their help through Alex’s battle. 

 “We wanted to have this reveal so people can see how Make-a-Wish really helps people,” said Wendy. 

Alex said he felt supported from people at his church, St. Jude and Make-a-Wish. He said he was grateful for his parents who took him to appointments and helped him while he was in pain. 

“My dad carried me up the stairs a few times,” said Alex.

While Alex showed the new equipment to his friends and family that came to the party, his eyes brightened and he smiled as he demonstrated how various weights and pulleys worked. It was evident that day in Scottsboro, Make-a-Wish continued to meet the organization’s goal of giving hope to children in need.