Kevin Sharp - From Wish Child to Country Music Sensation

Perhaps no one exemplifies how to share the power of a wish^® more strongly than Kevin Sharp. His experience as a wish child and now a country music sensation serve as an inspiration for other wish children facing the same physical and emotional battles that come with a life-threatening medical condition.

Kevin was referred to the Make-A-Wish Foundation as a high school senior in 1989. As an active teenager who loved singing and was planning a football career, Kevin was diagnosed with a rare form of bone cancer that had metastasized in his lungs, and given only a 20 percent chance to live.

Kevin's wish was to meet record composer and producer David Foster, whose music had inspired Kevin throughout his life. Foster helped boost the careers of such musical legends as Barbra Streisand, Whitney Houston and Natalie Cole. The Make-A-Wish Foundation arranged for a meeting between the two - and probably no one, except Kevin, may have realized how monumental the proportions of this meeting would be for Kevin, country music, and for many wish children in the future.

In the course of their meeting, Kevin indicated that he was interested in some day pursuing a musical career. Over the next few years, Kevin defied everyone's expectations, except for his own, and battled his cancer successfully into remission. He and Foster maintained a friendship throughout his recovery and Foster soon came to find that Kevin was truly musically gifted.

Now, more than 10 years later, Kevin, the former wish child, has risen into a country music singing sensation. His signature song, "Nobody Knows," soared to Number 1 on the Billboard country singles chart for four consecutive weeks, and shortly after, his "Measure of a Man" album went platinum.

But Kevin is special in another way. Because of his bout with cancer, Kevin feels a strong connection with other wish children. And he shares his story and his heart with children with life-threatening medical conditions across the country. He has granted over a dozen wishes to children wanting to meet him; he meets with hundreds of wish children through special events and surprise hospital visits; he performs concerts to benefit the Make-A-Wish Foundation; and serves as a PSA spokesperson for the Foundation. For his efforts, Kevin was presented with the Make-A-Wish Foundation "Wish Granter of the Year" award in 1997.

Kevin, like many other wish children, credits the Make-A-Wish Foundation with helping to re-instill in him a sense of hope and optimism through a positive, life-affirming and lifelong wish experience. Kevin received his wish - and he continues to live his dream.

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