Wish granted at Bloomsburg University for girl with heart disease

Dec. 1—BLOOMSBURG — Harley Beagle was never expected to live past a year.

Harley, who will turn 8 on Dec. 18, will spend her birthday in Florida, visiting Disney World, Universal Theme Parks and SeaWorld, thanks to a collaborative effort of Bloomsburg University's Huskies' Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), NCAA Division II and Make-A-Wish Greater Pennsylvania & West Virginia. The wish was revealed on Thursday at the Pettit Athletic Complex and Nelson Field House, Bloomsburg University.

"She wasn't supposed to see her fifth birthday. She wasn't supposed to see her first birthday," said Harley's mother Caylie Beagle, of Danville. "She has overcome so much in her almost eight years of life. To see her be rewarded for that and be so accepting of the reward is truly phenomenal."

Tyler White, Harley's father, said, "We feel blessed, truly blessed by everyone who organized this. It's truly amazing. It's a lot of really good people."

"It's been a very overwhelming day, in all the best ways," Caylie Beagle added.

Harley, a second grade student at Danville Primary School, was born with a congenital heart defect. She had four heart surgeries in her first six months of life and had her first pacemaker placed at six months. The pacemaker was replaced at age five. She had her last heart surgery to replace a heart valve in May 2020.

The big event

Her big event started on Thursday at Bloomsburg University with a horse carriage ride around campus with her parents and younger sister Bryanna, 6. It continued with sushi at Monty's Dining Hall on upper campus followed by a meet and greet and cupcakes with Disney princesses and characters.

At approximately 12:30 p.m., Harley and her family walked into the gym to find several hundred people, including her classmates from Danville Primary School, and students at Bloomsburg University, chanting her name. The Bloomsburg cheerleaders and dance crew performed for her and then they all sang "Sunflower" by Post Malone. SAAC committee also presented Harley and her sisters with gifts.

The wish was revealed in spectacular fashion. Several people held up their signs that combined read "Harley, your wish has come true. You are going to..." Then, other family members held up the letters to spell out "DISNEY." The characters and Make-a-Wish volunteers then rained down confetti and members of the audience cheered and shook pom-poms.

Harley said she is "really excited" and thought it was "super cool" to see everyone cheering. She said she is looking forward to visiting The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Parks and picking out a wand at Ollivanders.

"I'm really thankful," she said.

Her favorite Disney characters are Moana and Elsa.

Disney was Harley's first choice, but it was up in the air for a while due to COVID and travel restrictions.

'A real struggle'

Caylie Beaglie said Harley "really rocked" her latest surgery in 2020, but it was also more stressful than when she was a baby because she could verbalize her fear.

"It was her first big event that she was old enough to understand what was going on, feel everything and communicate her pain, her discomfort and fear," she said. "That was a real struggle for all of us."

Moving forward, Harley will need her pacemaker replaced as she grows. She will need another valve replacement, said Beagle.

Earning the wish

The Bloomsburg University Department of Athletics earned the wish reveal from N.C.A.A. Division II's longtime partnership with Make-A-Wish based on the fundraising efforts of the Huskies' SAAC. To automatically earn a "wish reveal," schools need to raise at least $10,000 in one academic year, with B.U. raising $10,015 for Make-A-Wish in 2020-21. It is one of just 11 schools nationwide to have raised more than $6,000 for Make-A-Wish last year.

"It's awesome and priceless to see how happy and grateful Harley was," said Megan Longenhagen, SAAC president.

"We were just so happy to make her happy," said Matt Marvin, SAAC vice president. "For her to show us through her emotions that she enjoyed so much of the day means that much more to us."

Harley's teacher Megan Geise said she had tears in her eyes as she watched the reveal. She's known about it since October and her students didn't know they were coming until Thursday morning.

"It melted my heart," said Geise. "Harley has gone through so much in her life and has come out a warrior. To see her grow and thrive, she deserves this."

The Beagles will be in Florida from Dec. 15 to 20.