Will her prayers be answered?
Ill 8-year-old’s wish: ‘Meet the Pope.’ Now she’s off to Rome!

By Paul Fleming Jr.
MethuenLife Writer

Caroline Elise Hamilton is an 8-year-old who possesses a thousand-watt smile, big brown eyes, and an infectious giggle that lights up a room whenever she makes an appearance.
Unfortunately, she is also carrying a low-grade atrocytoma tumor that is lodged in the hypothalamus region of her brain. The plum-sized mass is entangled with arteries and nerves that play important roles in how the little Methuen girl functions in her daily life. It is considered to be inoperable.
Since the discovery of the tumor on April 26, 2007, Caroline, a second-grader at St. Michael’s School in North Andover, has asked God to help her get rid of the tumor and make her better.
Later this month, the Methuen resident, along with her parents Rick and Sarah and brothers William and Aidan, will travel to Rome – in the midst of the holy season of Lent – and get an opportunity to ask Pope Benedict XVI if he would convey a special blessing upon her.
The trip is being sponsored by the Make-A-Wish Foundation, which grants children with life-threatening medical conditions wishes that will “… enrich the human experience with hope, strength and joy.”
“She’s very private about meeting with the Pope,” said Caroline’s mother, Sarah. “(The request) was very heartfelt. She wants to be healed. I’m trying to respect her sensitivity to it.”
“She understands the importance of the Pope and where he lines up communicating with God. She has tremendous faith that this is someone who can possibly heal her,’’ said her dad, Rick.
A gifted artist who has won awards at her school for some of her drawings, and a lover of birds, particularly flamingos, seagulls and pelicans, Caroline, who was given the nickname “Chickaroo” by her dad, also enjoys reading the stories found in her Bible.
A thoughtful child, she said she has always had “interest” in the Pope and what he does. Her interest was piqued, she said, during the last Papal Conclave in 2005, when Pope Benedict XVI was selected to succeed Pope John Paul II.
She was 4 at the time.
“I was very fascinated when they selected the new Pope,” Caroline says. “It interests me. It’s just fun to learn about God. I think the Bible and looking through it is very interesting and very cool.”
At the end of February, the Hamiltons said they were not exactly sure how Caroline would meet with Pope Benedict XVI. What they had been told by the Make-A-Wish Foundation is that they will probably attend a Mass with thousands of others from all over the world. Pope Benedict XVI will address the audience in six different languages. He will then possibly offer a blessing and greeting to their daughter.
“We will both probably well up,” said Sarah, anticipating her and her husband’s reaction when they watch Caroline interact with Pope Benedict XVI.
At the time this story was written, Caroline was considering what she would say to Pope Benedict XVI if she gets a chance to talk directly with him.
While enjoying a bowl of ice cream in her kitchen one night during school vacation week, she thought long and hard about what she would say.
“I think I’m going to say ‘Hello’ and stuff,’’ said Caroline. “I kind of keep the rest of it to myself.”
Caroline became eligible for the Make-A-Wish program on the first day she started chemotherapy treatments in 2007. The fact that she was asked if she wanted to participate initially shocked her parents.
Her father, who is a major with the 157th Security Forces Squadron Air National Guard, based at Pease, New Hampshire, and has seen people suffer in myriad circumstances all across the globe, said he was almost dumbfounded at the offer.
“My exposure with Make-A-Wish are kids that are terminally ill,” Rick said. “To look at Caroline, if you didn’t know her, you wouldn’t be able to tell she is sick. You know about Make-A-Wish.”
At first, Caroline did not want anything. She then said she would like a hamster. After her parents nixed that idea, Caroline forgot that she was asked to make a wish.
Last spring, however, her mother says her daughter’s perspective changed when she saw another boy at the clinic who was also receiving chemotherapy treatments. The wish that had been granted to that young man was landing in a jet on an aircraft carrier.
“I asked her again if she had any interest in anything. She then said she wanted to meet the Pope,” Sarah said.
Caroline’s life has been an absolute grind since the tumor was discovered. She has had two chemotherapy protocols and endured 25 blood transfusions. At times she has lost weight, frequently vomited and suffered long bouts of having no appetite. Yet the treatment she receives, at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, is considered to be the best in the world. But it is a toxic and ineffective treatment program that has not been improved in the last 25 years.

Like many 8-year-old girls, Caroline Hamilton loves eating ice cream, drawing and wearing ribbons in her hair. But she has spent almost two years battling a cancerous brain tumor. The Make-A-Wish Foundation is granting her wish and sending her to Rome this month to meet with the Pope. Photos by Steve Whipple.