Delainey Kendrick was diagnosed with cancer during her freshman year of high school.
This trip means much more to Delainey than just having her dreams come true.
“I love art and everything is about art. That’s all I do. So I wanted to be able to continue to do that and show maybe in the future how I can do that better.” said Delainey Kendrick, Wish Kid.
It was actually through her artwork that she discovered her tumor.
“I was in French class and I was kind of just sitting there and I wanted to draw a character in my notes. I wanted to have the character with defined collar bones. I don’t know why I wanted it to have defined collarbones and defined features. So I was feeling my collar bones to see how they were made, and I found this one huge tumor that was just sitting there. This was not on the other side. I immediately called my dad. I found it myself which is really weird. I had a way to cope with cancer through my art and I found it through my art so it’s a big blessing.” she said.
During treatment, Delainey used all kinds of canvases to express herself while she was undergoing chemo.
“Well two weeks after I found this lump right there, I was getting hooked up to a machine to get chemo and it was very intense. I didn’t know what was going on, and it was just hectic time for my family. Whenever my hair came out that was probably my worst time just because how much I loved it and everything,” Delainey said.
One of her favorite shows is “The Walking Dead.” The intricate SFX makeup inspired her to create her own scary makeup.
“She has always been our little artist. She has within the last probably three or four years developed her own style and started with the SFX makeup. She started mixing gelatin with foundation to make her prosthetics and stuff. We thought wow, she’s got some talent.” said Amber Kendrick, Delainey’s mom.
Make-A-Wish is sending her behind the scenes of “The Walking Dead” as the actors and actresses get made up. Delainey is using this experience to learn new techniques for her future career.
Delainey said “my wish was to go to California and get to work behind the scenes of “The Walking Dead” at Universal. I love SFX makeup. I do a lot of that myself. I wanted to try and find a way that maybe in the future I could say I worked at Universal and I saw how they do it. So, I have a bigger background and I can kind of show what I can do.”
Her mom said “We’re going to get to go first guest. It’s kind of a maze she’s going to get to go through there and then she’s going to get to go behind the scenes and watch them apply the zombie makeup and stuff which is right up her alley. It’ll be good to for us so it doesn’t scare us while we’re walking through the exhibit see how they get their makeup on and stuff she is so excited so excited.”
Her drive is such an inspiration to her family and friends. So being able to spend this week hanging out with the crew of “The Walking Dead” is also a celebration for the whole family.
“End even celebrate the fact that she doesn’t have it anymore even closing the chapter. We’re still going to have to go to doctor’s appointments and she’s still going to have to follow up, but hopefully this will be the end to that part of it there. This is a great way of summing up a really tough time in her lives. Not just hers but ours and our youngest daughters too. The fact that they’re letting us do this and providing this for us is really truly a blessing.” said Brian Kendrick, Delainey’s dad.
If you’d like to get involved with the Make-A-Wish Foundation just give them a call at 806-785-9474.