6-year-old walks runway at Make-a-Wish fashion show after last chemotherapy session
Two months ago, 6-year-old Quinn Tranchina was in a hospital gown taking her final chemotherapy pill during her treatment for leukemia. On Wednesday night, she was in a different kind of gown, strutting down the runway with her older sister, Reilly Tranchina, at a fashion show put on by Kleinfeld and Make-a-Wish.
Quinn was diagnosed with leukemia in August 2017. Her two-year cancer chemotherapy treatments were difficult not only on her, but on her family as well – including her two siblings Reilly, 8, and Kellan, 4.
"It's unbelievable how brave she is," Quinn's father, Dennis Tranchina, said. "Chemo didn't only impact her but her siblings as well -- especially Reilly, because she's 8 and understands what is going on."
In October 2018, Quinn had her wish granted through the Make-a-Wish foundation to go to Walt Disney World and meet Belle. The Tranchina family got to experience the magic of Walt Disney World, but most importantly, the magic of the children being able to feel like kids again.
Quinn finished her final leukemia treatment in December 2019, and she remains a part of the Make-a-Wish family. When the Tranchinas were contacted about having Quinn -- and her sister Reilly -- walk in a fashion show at Kleinfeld Bridal in New York City to help raise money to grant more wishes, Tranchina says they were "thrilled."
"Make-a-Wish has been so good to us," Tranchina said. "Not only are they giving back but they're paying it forward with raising money to fulfill more wishes."
The "Runway to Wishes" fashion show is an annual charity event hosted by Make-a-Wish and held at Kleinfeld Bridal in New York City, the bridal shop featured in popular TLC show "Say Yes to the Dress." The event features a silent auction and a fashion show starring Make-a-Wish kids as well as models displaying the latest in bridal couture.
"Say Yes to the Dress" star and bridal fashion designer Randy Fenoli hosts the runway show each year and says he loves to be a part of the event to "just for a moment get their mind off of their illness and to have their parents be able to take a break also from what they're going through."
"I think the most rewarding part of Make-a-Wish and raising money and granting wishes for me personally is getting to know that child and to grant them that wish and see the joy in their faces," Fenoli said.
The joy is clear on Quinn's face as she and her sister Riley get ready for the show. Tranchina says, after years of going through cancer treatment, it's nice to see his daughter get to "dress up and feel normal again."
The two girls walked hand-in-hand down the runway with smiles across their faces. When Fenoli announced Quinn had completed her cancer treatment just two months prior, the crowd roared.
The auction raised a record-breaking $130,000 for the Make-a-Wish foundation, but the memories made by the Tranchina girls and the other kids who took part in the show are priceless.
