Nampa teen sees wish granted
Charlie Litchfield/IPT
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jmeyer@idahopress.com
Monday, January 7th, 2008
NAMPA — Jesse Walker, 18 of Nampa has had a big year. First, his leukemia went in to remission in May. Sunday, his wish for a restored 1969 Chevrolet pickup finally became a reality.
More than 20 businesses in the Treasure Valley donated to help take Jesse’s truck, which mechanics first called a “rustbucket,” and turn it into a highly customized hot rod as part of the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Idaho’s gift to him
“They told me they basically built it from the ground up,” Jesse said after the unveiling Sunday. “It was great ... a lot more than I actually thought it could be.”
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When Jesse got the truck from his uncle for his 16th birthday, he planned to rebuild it in his high school shop class. His leukemia diagnosis changed that.
The teenager did not attend his first year of high school, instead going through weeklong hospital admissions for extensive treatment almost monthly, his mother Pam Walker said.
“Just going through it wasn’t fun,” she said. “Losing his hair, (being) pale, missing high school.”
Truck’s modest start
When the foundation got Jesse’s wish, they took the truck to Chip Foose, renowned car builder and designer and star of the TLC reality show “Overhaulin,’” Program Services Director Nancy Berry said.
“The wish today was a little over the top,” Berry said. Most of the 60-plus wishes the foundation aims to grant annually in Idaho cost an average of about $5,000, she added.
Foose called Jesse on the phone to ask him about his vision for the restoration, then drew up an artist rendering for local mechanics to shoot for. Then, businesses donated time, money or parts to the cause, with Boise’s Al’s Car Care Inc. and Harold’s Auto Body each donating hundreds of employee work hours to the rebuild.
“At first it was like, ‘God, what did I get myself into?’ I mean that truck was horrible. It had an Oldsmobile rear end, Oldsmobile engine. You could see the ground through the floor,” Al’s Car Care Shop Manager Mike Zahm said. “It was a frame-up rebuild. In reality there’s three trucks there. We tore down three trucks to make one.”
Zahm’s shop alone worked more than 600 hours on the mechanical side of Jesse’s wish, sending the sheetmetal to Harold’s Auto Body for the extensive body work, reshaping and paint. By the time they were done, the only thing left of the original truck was the cab.
“We worked on it when it got slow, on the weekends. My guys put a lot into this ... We loved it,” Zahm said. “We all went through our own headaches with it, but we enjoyed it. I think at times that’s all that kept some of the guys going, was the cause.
“This was a special deal. I don’t know what else to say. It was very special.”
The power of a wish
More than $20,000 in parts were donated for the job, Zahm estimated, and the 600 man-hours normally carry a fee of around $80 an hour, bringing the potential price tag of the restoration to more than $70,000.
None of the people in charge doubted the validity of the wish, and Berry was more than happy to make this happen for Jesse.
“It’s quite a work of art ... He’s a great, great young man, and all of the children we work with are very deserving of their wishes,” she said. “I can’t even tell you the feeling. It’s the magic of a wish and the driving force of the foundation, the power of a wish.”
After many months with barely a hint of what was going on with his truck, Jesse finally got to start it up Sunday, the roar of the exhaust startling his mother as he revved the engine for the first time.
“It was overwhelming to know that these guys put so much personal time into this. It was heartwarming,” Pam Walker said.
Jesse didn’t get to drive his new truck away from the unveiling because a few finishing touches are still being completed. But he’s more than ready, with driver’s permit in hand, to take it for a spin around the streets of Nampa.
“I’m really glad that they did this for me,” he said, “and if I could ever do anything for them, I would do it.”
