DVC Winter 2007 magazine:Layout 1 - Disney Vacation Club

DVC Winter 2007 magazine:Layout 1 12/18/07 9:14 AM Page 24
around the neighborhood
W E l c o m e h o m e , b y e r s f a m i l y
“My tumor’s name is loser.”
What sounds like a throw-away line from a Schwarzenegger
movie is a daily affirmation from an eight-year-old girl. Though
when it comes to her battle with cancer, Jenessa “Boey” Byers is,
indeed, something of a Terminator.
Diagnosed with pediatric cancer in January 2006, a determined
Boey started an online blog (check it out online at
www.JenessaByers.com) and dedicated herself, not only to beating
her disease, but to raising awareness and funding for cancer patients
everywhere.
Joining the fight against their daughter’s cancer, the suddenly
financially strapped Byers family (which also includes father Rob,
mother Rachel, and brothers Chris and Joe) also found
themselves battling their unsafe house.
ABC cameras roll as the Byers family enjoys a “Star Spangled
Tuesday” barbeque at Disney’s Hilton Head Island Resort.
The Oregon
home’s
deteriorating
condition
even
forced Joe, who suffers from asthma, to move in with his
grandparents.
Inspired by the family’s story, Disney Vacation Club lent a
helping hand by collaborating for the first time with ABC’s “Extreme
Makeover: Home Edition.” In an episode that aired earlier
this season, Ty Pennington and his crew reunited the Byers in a
gleaming new home, giving the family a fighting chance against
Boey’s cancer. And during the renovation, the Byers enjoyed a
well-deserved retreat to Disney’s Hilton Head Island Resort.
“Overwhelming is the only word I can think of to describe
how this feels,” Rob told Disney Files Magazine during a visit in
the family’s complimentary Grand Villa. “To be honest, I didn’t
even know Disney had a place in South Carolina, so I didn’t know
what to expect. But this has been the perfect place for us to
recharge.”
Rachel gave an equally enthusiastic “thumbs up,” adding, “To
say we’re having a great time would be the understatement of our
lives. This is just incredible. For all of us to be together in one
place gives us a taste of what life will be like in our new house.
And the people here have been absolutely amazing. We feel like
we have a new Disney family.”
While the Byers’ vacation itinerary was packed with everything
from a dolphin cruise to the resort’s Gyotaku fish-painting
activity, it was the simplest of pleasures that brought Rachel
to tears.
“One of the things Boey has had to give up during
chemotherapy has been bike riding,” Rachel explained. “She’s just
been too weak. But during this trip, she’s gotten back on a bike
for the first time. When she said to me, ‘See, I told you this cancer’s
not going to beat me,’ and rode away, I just lost it.”
Not wanting to see the family’s memory-building end with
this trip, Disney Vacation Club President Jim Lewis traveled to
Hilton Head to surprise the Byers with three years of future vacations.
(Disney Vacation Club learned later that the family once
traveled regularly through a vacation-ownership program but
had to sell their membership to help pay for Boey’s medical care.)
“Seeing their emotional reaction when I told them the fun
wouldn’t end there was among the highlights of my career,” Jim
said. “It reinforced just how powerful vacations can be for a family,
which is why we’re so proud at Disney Vacation Club to do
what we do.”
“Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” airs in the U.S. on
Sunday nights at 8 p.m. EST on ABC.
The Byers show off the masterpieces they created during their
Gyotaku fish-painting experience.
“Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” is produced by Endemol USA, a division of Endemol Holding. It’s executive-produced by Denise Cramsey. David Goldberg is the president of Endemol USA.
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