Learn About Make-A-Wish Arizona
Make-A-Wish Arizona is a 501(c)(3) non-profit, tax-exempt Arizona corporation. Every dollar our chapter receives aids us in our mission to grant wishes of children with critical illnesses. Our financial statements have been audited annually and past statements are available for review upon request.
At Make-A-Wish, our mission is to create life-changing wishes for children with critical illnesses. Our families and medical professionals share with us that a wish becomes an important part of the healing process, helping children manage, and even overcome, their illnesses.
About Our Make-A-Wish Kid
"I wish to go to a Formula 1 race"
Mason, 12, heart condition
When Mason was born in 2010, doctors gave him a 1% chance of surviving his first open-heart surgery. Diagnosed with a rare syndrome and one of the most complex cases of congenital heart disease ever attempted to repair at the time, Mason has undergone three open-heart surgeries and five cardiac cath procedures. But today, at 13 years old, he’s not just surviving, he’s racing toward his dreams.
Mason found his passion for racing at just eight years old after watching Formula 1 with his family. Unable to play many traditional sports due to his condition, Mason discovered go-karting and never looked back. “When you’re racing, all of your thoughts are gone,” he says. “You can’t really think about anything else but what you’re doing.”
Through Make-A-Wish Arizona, Mason’s wish accelerated into reality with a once-in-a-lifetime VIP experience at the Miami Grand Prix in 2023. There, he met his racing hero Max Verstappen and the entire Red Bull Racing team along with drivers Daniel Ricciardo, Charles Leclerc, Lando Norris, among others. To this day, Mason says that his wish was the “best experience I’ve probably ever had.”
Now more determined than ever to become a professional driver, Mason continues to train and compete at his home in Glendale, Arizona. His family launched Galo Racing to help other kids with heart conditions compete in motorsports.
When thinking about his dream to become a professional race car driver Mason shared, “I just feel like you gotta work hard and never give up. It’s going to be very hard, but I feel like it’s possible.”