Allie’s Story

Allie is a bright and gregarious six-year-old who loves to spread ‘sunshine’ throughout her neighbourhood as she rides around in her battery-operated SUV, greeting everyone with a big smile and warm “hello.” When Allie isn’t making new friends, she loves creating memories with her family – both indoors and outside. Allie and her mom will spend hours singing, dancing, making fun videos, and playing “boo” – a game Allie created, where she likes to hide and pop out to scare her mom. At the age of two, Allie’s mom noticed that Allie did not appear to be forming sentences like other kids her age. After an arduous journey of speech therapy, doctor visits and tests, Allie was diagnosed with a rare genetic disorder called ‘Sanfilippo Syndrome’ at the age of four.

One of Allie’s favourite things to do is visit the local playground. The thrill of swinging so high, in hopes of touching the sky, and the rush of soaring down a slide makes her light up with joy and laugh until her belly hurts. For safety reasons, Allie has been unable to enjoy the playground as she used to. When Allie and her family discovered her most heart felt wish would come true, it was no surprise that a wish to have her own backyard play area, perfectly suited for her, was what she came up with.

Thanks to the helping hands of our phenomenal staff, volunteers and Newfound Builders of HGTV Canada’s Rock Solid Builds, Allie’s wish became a realty and has since touched the lives of so many in her community and across the country.

“Since receiving Allie’s Sanfilippo diagnosis in 2019, it has really changed our outlook on life. It makes you want to stop and smell the flowers and to appreciate the little things in life. We are proud to be Allie’s parents and her biggest advocates!”

 – Cathy, Allie’s mom