Wade’s World of Wonder Playground is in memory Wade Michael Mazza, son of Laura and Jason Mazza, who passed away in January of 2011 approximately two months before his 5th birthday. Wade was born with many congenital anomalies creating significant physical and cognitive challenges. He was born with Agenesis of Corpus Callosum (ACC) which is the absent of the fibers that connect the left and right hemispheres of the brain. Wade could not talk, walk or perform any activities without assistance. He also had Pierre Robin sequence which is micrognathia (underdeveloped of lower jaw) and glossoptosis (backward positioned tongue) creating an airway obstruction requiring him to receive a tracheostomy by 6 months of age. Wade had numerous surgeries in addition to the tracheostomy including blepharoplasty to tighten and lift his upper eyelids from blocking his vision, Nissen fundoplication for severe gastroesophageal reflux, G-tube placement at 1 month of age due to failure to thrive secondary to poor oral intact and cleft palate, cleft palate repair, inguinal hernia repair, and was in Pavlik harness for month due hip dysplasia. Wade spent his first month of life in the NICU with numerous admissions to the PICU due to respiratory issues and aspiration pneumonia. He was enrolled in Birth to Three where he received therapy by several amazing occupational and physical therapist and continued beyond Birth to Three. Wade was unable to communicate his needs, but you knew he was content when he was in the arms of loved ones. Wade fought many battles in his short life but was suddenly taken away from us secondary to acute respiratory failure and subsequent cardiac arrest. After his passing, we felt led to leave a lasting memory of our son by building a playground which would benefit children of ALL abilities in Preston County as well as the surrounding counties.
Getting this playground built in his memory has been near and dear to our hearts as we have been working diligently over the last several years to put this plan into action. Our plan is to build the playground at the Kingwood Trailhead Park along Sisler Street. We have used the funding we have raised thus far for: professional services such as our recently received 501c3 certification from the IRS, hiring a consultant who helped us tremendously with a redesign of the park as well as with engaging officials and funders that have laid the foundation to take our efforts to the next level, engineering assessments on the land to make sure that it is suitable for a playground, as well as a variety of other actions. Unfortunately, as was the case with so many things, COVID forced us to place everything on hold until we knew what the future would bring. And, from the beginning, we have been in constant collaboration with Preston County Parks and Recreation as well as the Preston County Commission to reserve the property and take ownership once the playground is completed.
In short, we are FINALLY at the most important place we’ve ever been, and yet we need funding from the community more than ever to move to the next level of this project. Preston County’s families DESERVE this, and we do this in Wade’s beautiful memory. Thank you, in advance, for believing in our mission, and for wanting a safe and beautiful place for ALL children and their families to play and have fun. Bless you all for your help and support!