Kansas City teen uses Make-A-Wish to help children battling cancer

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A Kansas City teenager who beat cancer is using his Make-A-Wish to help other children facing similar battles this holiday season.

Jack Punswick, 18, was diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma last year and has been cancer-free since April. When the Make-A-Wish Foundation contacted him, he chose to use his wish for a shopping spree to buy gifts for pediatric patients at Children’s Mercy.

“What makes me most happy is putting a smile on other people’s faces,” Punswick said. “Chemotherapy was brutal, to say the least.”

The teenager spent last year’s holidays in the hospital and understands firsthand how difficult those days can be for families.

“I think through this Make-A-Wish and delivering joy and hope, not just gifts, but delivering the joy and hope would make a lot of families’ lives better,” Punswick said.

Brian Miller with the Make-A-Wish Foundation said the organization created an Amazon registry to help make Punswick’s wish possible. The registry includes toys, games, art kits and comfort items.

“I will never forget this,” Miller said. “This is something that truly does warm your heart and lifts your spirit and it provides just hope for humanity.”

Punswick’s message to other families facing cancer during the holidays is that they are not alone.

“One thing that I realized about the journey: medicine can only go so far. Hope and joy is what really propelled me through my journey with cancer,” he said.

Punswick will personally deliver the gifts to the children in the coming weeks.