Cam’ron Levi Harrison loves to play the video game Grand Theft Auto.
So much so, the 11-year-old from Georgetown has become infatuated with Hollywood, which is imitated by a fictitious area within the game.
On Sept. 6, he was told by a couple hundred golfers in unison at Myrtlewood Golf Club that he is being granted his wish to take a trip to Los Angeles and Hollywood.
Cam’ron is the recipient of the latest wish being granted courtesy of the Myrtlewood Senior Men’s Golf Association through the Make-A-Wish South Carolina foundation.
He and his family, including his mother, Uilanionapua Barjane Dew, and father, Austin Eaddy, will take the six-day trip Thursday to Tuesday.
“It’s so important because we have to go to doctors appointments either every week or every two weeks,” Dew said. “Sometimes we’ve gone to doctors appointments three times every week. So it’s been a lot, and it’s nice to finally get to relax. He gets to enjoy not having to get poked to get labs done. It’s just enjoying going somewhere he’s always wanted to be and go.”
Cam’ron arrived at the sixth annual Myrtlewood Golf Tournament benefiting Make-A-Wish South Carolina with a police motorcade, and soon thereafter learned his wish had been granted.
The Myrtlewood Senior Men’s Golf Association adopted the Make-A-Wish charity five years ago and began inviting the general public to its fundraising tournament in 2023.
It is spearheaded by tournament director Chris Lovorn, the Myrtlewood men’s group’s secretary and treasurer and a second-year Make-A-Wish South Carolina board member.
The tournament expanded this year and was played on both of Myrtlewood’s courses, the Palmetto and PineHills.
“That’s a lot of people out there, from all over too, and they’re all so nice,” Dew said. “Just to see them cheering for my son, it meant a lot.”
Cam’ron’s journey
Cam’ron was born with renal dysplasia, a congenital condition that results in kidneys not developing properly, which caused him to have Stage 4 kidney failure.
Dew said he was born with one non-working kidney and one premature kidney that was overworking itself, and he is just one year removed from a kidney transplant.
“Cam’s been through a lot,” Dew said. “I want to say at least eight surgeries. At one point they had to do a bladder reconstruction because his urine was refluxing back into his kidneys, which was damaging his kidneys as well. But now he’s finally got his kidney transplant. He’s not completely healed because we still have other health issues, but that was the main thing that we needed to get done to get us to where we are today.
Cam’ron has been losing weight for a couple months without a known cause, and a biopsy was recently done on a cyst on his pancreas to see if that could be a contributing factor.
Tests are also being done to see if he is allergic to any of the anti-rejection medications he’s been taking following the transplant. “Hopefully when this is all settled then we’ll be good,” Dew said.
On the third day after his transplant Cam’ron walked a flight of stairs. “They were so shocked,” Dew said of his doctors and nurses. “. . . My son was stronger than me during this process, during most of it. He’s a strong kid and I’m glad we’re here today.”
Dew is aware of some of the graphic content of the game, but ignores critics who say it’s not for children knowing how much her son enjoys it. It’s a family affair, as he often plays with his grandfather, Eddie Dew of Georgetown.
“I let him play. He’s been through a lot,” Dew said. “You never know what the next chapter will be.”
Cam’ron will enjoy the cinematic aspects of Hollywood, as he’s a fan of many movies. He likes the Planet of the Apes franchise, enough to name his new kidney after the ruling ape, Caesar, as well as the Fast & Furious action franchise.
“He loves cars,” Dew said. “Anything with cars, anything with action, that kid’s gonna watch it.”
Cam’ron has the trip planned out.
“It’s just a beautiful place to be, with all the movies that are made there,” he said. “I just want to see it in person. I want to go to the beach and go to the pier, then to Universal Studios and the zoo.”
A breakout event & foundation
The family of last year’s Myrtlewood Make-A-Wish tournament wish recipient, Luca James, who went to Walt Disney World in Florida with his family, has its own tournament to raise funds to support families of Make-A-Wish children.
The fourth Strongman Luca James Foundation tournament was held July 13 at Burning Ridge Golf Club, which is where they plan to hold it next year as well.
“It’s full circle with our tournament that we’re able to not only have a recipient, Ava, to be able to help with them financially, then also to be able to give back to Make-A-Wish to be able to support a wish,” said Luca’s father, Michael.
Luca is a year removed from cancer treatments and is considered a survivor. He’ll be deemed cancer free in four more years if he doesn’t have a relapse, said his mother, Kate.
The foundation in Luca’s name supports Make-A-Wish families in Horry and Georgetown counties, including mental health services and support groups.
The James family and Lovorn have been collaborating on ways to increase the foundation’s impact.
“Make A Wish is the thing they’re looking forward to, but to get the families here to that step, for us to be able to step in financially is huge,” Kate James said. “And each year we want to earmark at least one wish. We’re in it for the long haul.
“It was life-changing for us. We were able to say, ‘OK, cancer is in our past, how can we pay it forward, how can we move forward, how can we move forward to our new normalcy. It’s been really awesome.”
The Strongman Luca James Foundation has been helping Ava’s family travel to Charleston for ongoing treatments and pay bills, while raising enough money to grant a wish.
According to Make-A-Wish South Carolina, this fiscal year it has granted 258 wishes statewide, yet about 325 medically qualified children are still awaiting their wish, including 25 in the Myrtle Beach area. All Make-A-Wish South Carolina revenues stay within the state.
The organization stresses that wishes aren’t necessarily last wishes, as it serves children with critical illnesses, the majority of which go on to manage or even overcome their conditions.
“For me when people spoke about Make-A-Wish when Luca was first diagnosed, you think terminal. You think the worst,” Kate James said. “I’m like, ‘I don’t want that stigma. I don’t want my kid to be a Wish Kid thinking that he’s going to die.’ But there’s so much more to it now. The organization gives so much to the families.”
There are wish families events, including a recent one at Dave & Busters, which was closed to outsiders to limit germs.
