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Thread: Wow ... (Pixar grants girl's dying wish to see 'Up')

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    Hot Stove Season HotCorner's Avatar
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    Wow ... (Pixar grants girl's dying wish to see 'Up')

    http://www.ocregister.com/articles/p...8059-home-show

    Pixar grants girl's dying wish to see 'Up'
    Company sent DVD so Huntington Beach girl, 10, could watch it.
    By ANNIE BURRIS
    THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

    To find out how readers worldwide are responding to Colby Curtin's story click here .

    HUNTINGTON BEACH – Colby Curtin, a 10-year-old with a rare form of cancer, was staying alive for one thing – a movie.

    From the minute Colby saw the previews to the Disney-Pixar movie Up, she was desperate to see it. Colby had been diagnosed with vascular cancer about three years ago, said her mother, Lisa Curtin, and at the beginning of this month it became apparent that she would die soon and was too ill to be moved to a theater to see the film.

    After a family friend made frantic calls to Pixar to help grant Colby her dying wish, Pixar came to the rescue.

    The company flew an employee with a DVD of Up, which is only in theaters, to the Curtins’ Huntington Beach home on June 10 for a private viewing of the movie.

    The animated movie begins with scenes showing the evolution of a relationship between a husband and wife. After losing his wife in old age, the now grumpy man deals with his loss by attaching thousands of balloons to his house, flying into the sky, and going on an adventure with a little boy.

    Colby died about seven hours after seeing the film.

    With her daughter’s vigil planned for Friday, Lisa Curtin reflected about how grateful she is that Pixar – and "Up" – were a part of her only child’s last day.

    “When I watched it, I had really no idea about the content of the theme of the movie,” said Curtin, 46. “I just know that word ‘Up’ and all of the balloons and I swear to you, for me it meant that (Colby) was going to go up. Up to heaven.”

    Pixar officials declined to comment on the story or name the employees involved.

    THE PREVIEWS

    Colby was diagnosed with vascular cancer on Dec. 23, 2005 after doctors found a tumor in her liver. At the time of her death, her stomach was about 94 inches around, swollen with fluids the cancer wouldn’t let her body properly digest. The rest of her body probably weighed about 45 pounds, family friend Carole Lynch said.

    Colby had gone to Newport Elementary School and was known for making others laugh, family friend Terrell Orum-Moore said. Colby loved to dance, sing, swim and seemed to have a more mature understanding of the world than other children her age, Orum-Moore said.

    On April 28, Colby went to see the Dream Works 3-D movie "Monsters Vs. Aliens" but was impressed by the previews to "Up."

    “It was from then on, she said, ‘I have to see that movie. It is so cool,’” Lynch said.

    Colby was a movie fan, Lisa Curtin said, and she latched onto Pixar’s movies because she loved animals.

    Two days later Colby’s health began to worsen. On June 4 her mother asked a hospice company to bring a wheelchair for Colby so she could visit a theater to see "Up." However, the weekend went by and the wheelchair was not delivered, Lisa Curtin said.

    By June 9, Colby could no longer be transported to a theater and her family feared she would die without having seen the movie.

    At that point, Orum-Moore, who desperately wanted Colby to get her last wish, began to cold-call Pixar and Disney to see if someone could help.

    Pixar has an automated telephone answering system, Orum-Moore said, and unless she had a name of a specific person she wanted to speak to, she could not get through. Orum-Moore guessed a name and the computer system transferred her to someone who could help, she said.

    Pixar officials listened to Colby’s story and agreed to send someone to Colby’s house the next day with a DVD of "Up," Orum-Moore recalled.

    She immediately called Lisa Curtin, who told Colby.

    “Do you think you can hang on?” Colby’s mother said.

    “I’m ready (to die), but I’m going to wait for the movie,” the girl replied.

    THE MOVIE

    At about 12:30 p.m. the Pixar employee came to the Curtins’ home with the DVD.

    He had a bag of stuffed animals of characters in the movie and a movie poster. He shared some quirky background details of the movie and the group settled in to watch Up.

    Colby couldn't see the screen because the pain kept her eyes closed so her mother gave her a play-by-play of the film.

    At the end of the film, the mother asked if her daughter enjoyed the movie and Colby nodded yes, Lisa Curtin said.

    The employee left after the movie, taking the DVD with him, Lynch said.

    “He couldn’t have been nicer,” said Lynch who watched the movie with the family. “His eyes were just welled up.”

    After the movie, Colby’s dad, Michael Curtin, who is divorced from Lisa Curtin, came to visit.

    Colby died with her mom and dad nearby at 9:20 p.m.

    Among the Up memorabilia the employee gave Colby was an “adventure book” – a scrap book the main character’s wife used to chronicle her journeys.

    “I’ll have to fill those adventures in for her,” Lisa Curtin said.


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  3. #2
    Member NJReds's Avatar
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    Re: Wow ...

    Very touching story.
    "The players make the manager, it's never the other way." - Sparky Anderson

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    We Need Our Myths reds1869's Avatar
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    Re: Wow ... (Pixar grants girl's dying wish to see 'Up')

    It was wonderful of Pixar to do that. Very moving.

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    Member klw's Avatar
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    Re: Wow ... (Pixar grants girl's dying wish to see 'Up')

    nice of the company but what a sad sad story.

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    Five Tool Fool jojo's Avatar
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    Re: Wow ... (Pixar grants girl's dying wish to see 'Up')

    I have an 11 year old daughter and I can't imagine her looking into my eyes and saying, "I'm ready (to die)".......

    I guess as a parent you imagine yourself wishing for just one more game of catch with your Dad but can't fathom that you might ever be in a position where you'd be wishing for just one more game of catch with your child....

    Just thinking about it is suffocating....
    "This isn’t stats vs scouts - this is stats and scouts working together, building an organization that blends the best of both worlds. This is the blueprint for how a baseball organization should be run. And, whether the baseball men of the 20th century like it or not, this is where baseball is going."---Dave Cameron, U.S.S. Mariner

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    Member durl's Avatar
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    Re: Wow ... (Pixar grants girl's dying wish to see 'Up')

    Quote Originally Posted by jojo View Post
    I have an 11 year old daughter and I can't imagine her looking into my eyes and saying, "I'm ready (to die)".......

    I guess as a parent you imagine yourself wishing for just one more game of catch with your Dad but can't fathom that you might ever be in a position where you'd be wishing for just one more game of catch with your child....

    Just thinking about it is suffocating....
    You are so right. We need to cherish every moment with our kids.

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    Re: Wow ... (Pixar grants girl's dying wish to see 'Up')

    Great story but that is so depressing.

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    Pitter Patter TRF's Avatar
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    Re: Wow ... (Pixar grants girl's dying wish to see 'Up')

    Quote Originally Posted by jojo View Post
    I have an 11 year old daughter and I can't imagine her looking into my eyes and saying, "I'm ready (to die)".......

    I guess as a parent you imagine yourself wishing for just one more game of catch with your Dad but can't fathom that you might ever be in a position where you'd be wishing for just one more game of catch with your child....

    Just thinking about it is suffocating....
    My daughter is 11 also. She suffered a 2nd degree burn this past Saturday. Seeing the look on her face yesterday when I had to clean the burn just tore me apart. I never want to imagine the torment that girl or her parents went through.
    Dubito Ergo Cogito Ergo Sum.

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    Five Tool Fool jojo's Avatar
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    Re: Wow ... (Pixar grants girl's dying wish to see 'Up')

    Quote Originally Posted by TRF View Post
    My daughter is 11 also. She suffered a 2nd degree burn this past Saturday. Seeing the look on her face yesterday when I had to clean the burn just tore me apart. I never want to imagine the torment that girl or her parents went through.
    Ouch.....I hope she is alright.
    "This isn’t stats vs scouts - this is stats and scouts working together, building an organization that blends the best of both worlds. This is the blueprint for how a baseball organization should be run. And, whether the baseball men of the 20th century like it or not, this is where baseball is going."---Dave Cameron, U.S.S. Mariner

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    The wino and I know bucksfan's Avatar
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    Re: Wow ... (Pixar grants girl's dying wish to see 'Up')

    Quote Originally Posted by jojo View Post
    I have an 11 year old daughter and I can't imagine her looking into my eyes and saying, "I'm ready (to die)".......

    I guess as a parent you imagine yourself wishing for just one more game of catch with your Dad but can't fathom that you might ever be in a position where you'd be wishing for just one more game of catch with your child....

    Just thinking about it is suffocating....
    No kidding. This is why not to read redszone at work. I am now telling myself I cannot cry here at my desk...
    "I'm virtually free to do whatever I want, but I try to remember so is everybody else..." - Todd Snider

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    Pitter Patter TRF's Avatar
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    Re: Wow ... (Pixar grants girl's dying wish to see 'Up')

    Quote Originally Posted by jojo View Post
    Ouch.....I hope she is alright.
    She's better, but twice a day we have to clean the burned area. And lucky me gets to do it.

    Like you i imagine, my kids... well seeing any of them in pain is excruciating. I cannot, will not ever imagine being in a situation where I watch them slip away.

    It's great to hear a company whose bottom line is the dollar step up like that.
    Dubito Ergo Cogito Ergo Sum.

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    Member Elam's Avatar
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    Re: Wow ... (Pixar grants girl's dying wish to see 'Up')

    The sheer fact that Pixar declined to comment shows that this wasn't just some PR move. I've loved all 9 Pixar movies that have come out and this just reinforces how classy of a company they are.


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