Claire Maki Wilson
2004 Community Hero
True to her nickname, 2-year-old “Claire Bear” likes nothing better than to cuddle. She possesses a special fondness for music, too. According to her family, Claire is quick to get a groove on and start dancing – no matter what the song. Then there’s her fascination with ducks: rubber ducks, fluffy ducks… All kinds of ducks capture her attention. Oftentimes, when Claire is just walking along, she can be heard uttering, “Duck, duck, duck,” laughs her mother, Karen.
Claire was born on November 8, 2002. A day later, her doctors detected two major birth defects – one affecting her heart and the other affecting her esophagus and trachea. When she was just five days old, Claire underwent open heart surgery – and was released from the hospital within three weeks. This past December, doctors detected another serious problem, a very aggressive cancerous tumor in the center of her brain. Since then, Claire has had four brain surgeries, on top of intensive chemotherapy.
Whenever Claire visits the hospital, the faces of hospital staff light up because Claire never lets anything stop her from smiling and laughing. Even though she’s so young, she has already taught her family a lot about life. “She has shown us that it is important to live each day and enjoy, regardless of what’s happening,” says her mother. “Claire is an absolute miracle. She keeps finding a way to beat the odds.”
