Izzy, born in Michigan, wants to become a doctor after she was inspired by the hit TV series “Grey’s Anatomy” and considering she managed to teach herself how to play the piano there’s no doubt, with her determined nature, she will eventually succeed in becoming a doctor, especially considering her illness.
In her early teens, Izzy was diagnosed with a genetic disorder known as “Wilson’s Disease,” which prevents Izzy’s body from removing any excess copper. It took five months for her to be diagnosed, and she believes if it had happened much sooner, she would be a lot healthier and had a much easier life than the one she leads now. At the age of 17, Izzy has only had a few years to try to make something out of herself. It hasn’t been easy for her. As she told Good Morning America, she only began watching Grey’s Anatomy when she became so ill she couldn’t even get to school. To her, Grey’s Anatomy became a release from the frustrations and the misery she was going through as she tried to get through her life.
But Grey’s Anatomy has done more for Izzy than provide her with a release, it has inspired her to become interested in the medical field, and now she is studying to become a doctor out of homage for her favourite show.
But this teen gets an amazing surprise from the cast of “Grey’s Anatomy.” She met them.
The #GreysAnatomy team partnered with @MakeAWish to fulfill a wish of meeting @ellenpompeo! Every year Disney helps grant more than 10,000 wishes, delivering comfort and inspiration to families around the world. #DisneyTeamofHeroes #GreysAnatomy pic.twitter.com/bebs0Xk5On
— Greys Anatomy (@GreysABC) March 10, 2019
How did this happen?
It’s all thanks to the Make a Wish Foundation and Disney. Every year Disney and the foundation join forces to grant over 10,000 wishes at a time to offer comfort and to give people inspiration around the world. Izzy herself entered into it, and her original wish was to meet Ellen Pompeo who plays the titular character of Grey’s Anatomy, Doctor Grey. Izzy must have been surprised and yet beyond delighted when she not only got to meet the woman who is her hero, but she has also got to meet the rest of the cast. Izzy later confessed it was ‘surreal’ being around the cast, and she needed a bit of time to adjust to them being around her, but when she did she found it a ‘cool experience.’
As if meeting the cast wasn’t a cool experience in itself, Izzy actually visited the Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital where she acted as an attending physician alongside Ellen Pompeo and her character’s new love interest played by Giacomo Gianniotti, who plays Doctor Andrew DeLuca. Izzy had a fantastic time on the set; she got to see the props, but that was probably nothing compared to actually directing a scene and yelling the magic word, “Action!”
The cast also enjoyed having Izzy around, and Pompeo tweeted about how amazing it was to have her.
Izzy’s Wilson’s Disease describes how the copper in her body builds up in her liver, her eyes, her brain, and in some of her organs. High copper levels can cause threatening damage to the organs if they’re not treated medically. As well as learning how to be a fully-fledged doctor, Izzy is also taking the time to educate people about Wilson’s Disease, speaking for other kids who are going through the same experience she is. Remember – at the top of the article is a note of how it took months for her to be diagnosed, well, she is hoping more attention to drawn to the disease so people suffering from it are given proper care quickly. She would have been healthier and her life would have been easier if she had been diagnosed much sooner and it wouldn’t have dragged on for five months.
Izzy knows a lot of children go through the same process for much longer than she ever did, resulting in more complications that could have been avoided if it had been done earlier and if more and more doctors and specialists were taking an active interest in Wilson’s Disease… those children would not be struggling as much as they are.
Izzy is incredibly grateful for Make-A-Wish making it possible for her to meet the cast, and the 18th wish fulfilled by Grey’s Anatomy’s cast. And Izzy considers the whole experience to be a cool, fun experience.
Follow Us
