Not many people would want to be President of the United States. For 13-year-old Preston Hennessey, diagnosed with Obstructive Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy and Marfan Syndrome just this past July, spending a week in the Oval Office is his fondest wish.
His mother, Helise Flickstein, has appealed to the Make a Wish Foundation. So far the organization has approved a “Meet and Greet” with President Trump, but Preston would still like to try his hand at governing the United States for a short time. His dream is one day to be President for real.
With Obstructive Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy (HCM), the heart is enlarged and, in Preston’s case, his right ventricle is leaking causing the blood to flow back down making the lower right chamber larger than normal.
This is creating constant chest pain for Preston. HCM affects about one in 500 people. Marfan syndrome is a micro valve birth defect. About 1 in 5,000 people have this condition. Since the diagnosis the eighth grader has been in and out of the hospital, first with testing and then with chest pain every week.
Preston states, “If I were President I would like to give the homeless all miniature houses and a job. I propose to offer incentives to corporations in the United States to bring jobs back here rather than outsourcing. I also want to put term limits on senators and congressmen and not to pay them a lifetime salary.”
Ms. Flickstein has also contacted the White House directly, Governor Rick Scott and Congressman Gus Bilirakis in her quest to see Preston’s wish fulfilled. She is waiting to hear back from these offices.
Just in case he doesn’t see his wish granted, Preston has a Plan B, C and D. He would like a spending spree at Best Buy. Or he would like to be able to purchase the house that he, his two siblings (Sarah and Roland) and his mother are renting now so they will not have to move. Preston has two older siblings, Brianna, 20, and Zachary, 18 who are not living at home.
Another unselfish wish that Preston has is that his mother fulfills her dream of having her completed screenplay made into a film directed by Robert Downey, Jr. It is called Bogie and Bacall, a biopic about Humphrey Bogart. Helise has already started to put together a partial cast consisting of Doug Hutchison (The Green Mile), Tracy Reiner (A League of their Own), Michael Grimm (America’s Got Talent winner – Season 5)), Sarah Simmons (The Voice) and Maddy Hudson (American Idol). She hopes that Downey will even play the lead.
Who says, “You can’t dream big!”?