Plainfield First-Grader Gets Holiday 'Star Wars' Wish Granted

PLAINFIELD, IL — Young Ayden Cazares has had an interesting first seven years of life. Born with a congenital heart defect, he received life-saving cardiac surgery at the age of six. At the same time, while being bullied in school, he became something of an internet celebrity when he and his parents decided to launch an anti-bullying website and small charity effort.

Next, he got to meet the Chicago Cubs' Kyle Schwarber and country music star Brad Paisley. And just a week ago, he got to do something most seven-year-olds can only dream about.

He got to go to the world premiere of a Star Wars movie.

"It was in Hollywood, December 16th," Cazares' mother, Nelly Sainez, said. "He's a huge 'Star Wars' fan."

Cazares' trip to see "Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker" is the third and final of his "three wishes," a project Sainez organized on her son's behalf. Meeting Schwarber and Paisley were part of the first two gifts.

"After surgery he said, 'I always give wishes away, I wish somebody would give me a wish,'" Sainez said. "He wanted to go to a Green Bay/Bears game, he wanted to meet Kyle Schwarber, and the last one was 'Star Wars.'"

Sainez said she relied on local media, family connections and her son's notoriety with the New York-based "See the Wish - Be a Friend" anti-bullying nonprofit group to help plan and fund Cazares' wish-fulfillment.

"We had his pediatrician reach out. She was the one who filled out the paper work for the 'Star Wars,'" she said. "For Kyle Schwarber, I pretty much had to learn how to use Twitter and annoy people until I got Schwarber's agent to contact me."

Cazares' Star Wars wish was specifically granted by the Florida-based nonprofit Kids Wish Network, which works specifically with children with life-threatening conditions. According to a spokesperson from Kids Wish, Sainez was the one who applied to have her son attend the Star Wars premiere, while Cazares' pediatrician merely signed off that his heart condition was life-threatening.

Cazares said his favorite parts of the 'Star Wars' premiere event were in the movie itself, mentioning specific scenes that Patch will not print so as not to spoil the film's ending. "Rise of Skywalker" has received middling reviews from many critics so far, but that didn't seem to bother him much.

"The movie was great, my favorite part about it was that it showed something new." he said.

All images and video provided courtesy of Nelly Sainez

This story was edited at 11:45 a.m., Dec. 30 to include the name of the specific organization that granted Ayden Cazares' Star Wars wish.