Eagle Scout Brings Comfort, Smiles to Children in Hospice Care

When Dillon Wilbert’s brother was dying of a
 brain tumor 11 years ago, Dillon loved to make Matthew laugh. Just 6, he adored 10-year-old Matthew’s hearty giggles, the ones that shook his whole body and made their parents laugh, too.

Now Dillon hopes his Eagle Scout project–a wooden glider swing for Edmarc Hospice for Children in Portsmouth, Va., which helped care for his only sibling–will bring joy
to other sick children.

Dillon, a 17-year-old junior at Grafton High School in York County, designed the 9-foot-tall, handicapped-accessible swing himself and built it in his driveway, aided by fellow Scouts, friends and some $4,000 in donations from people nationwide who read a Facebook post about the project.

“Edmarc got my family through a lot of tough times, so doing this was huge for me,” Dillon says. “I’ve had it in my head for years. I like to picture kids swinging and having picnics on it.”

Before doctors diagnosed Matthew’s aggressive brain tumor in 2001, he was a high-energy boy who liked cars and Lego toys. Dillon remembers him mostly from when he was ill, bloated from steroid medications and outfitted with a chest catheter for blood draws and intravenous treatments.

But the brothers had plenty of fun together. They drove Matthew’s electric wheelchair too fast around the house, creating several wall dents, and vacationed at Disney World through the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Edmarc staff supported the family throughout Matthew’s 20-month illness and after his death on April 4, 2003, nine days after his 10th birthday. As part of his grieving process, Dillon attended a hospice-run camp with other children who had lost siblings.

“It’s a club you never want to be a part of, but you sure do need that club,” says Dillon’s father, Dan Wilbert. “Once you’re an Edmarc family, you’re always an Edmarc family.”

Dillon, an aspiring engineer who joined the Scouts in first grade, got the swing idea from a magazine article on a similar Eagle Scout project. In the summer of 2012, he began consulting Scout leaders with construction expertise and later designed the swing’s roof on his home computer after taking a technical drawing class at school. Checks to cover lumber, concrete footers, rubber mulch and landscaping poured in from friends and strangers once Dillon shared his story online.
All extra money will go
to Edmarc.

Watching the swing come together has been a bittersweet milestone for the family, but mostly sweet. “There’s no one else I’d rather have done this for than Edmarc,” Dillon says. “I want those kids to know other people have gone through this stuff before.
I want them to smile.”

And maybe, even, have
 a few giggle fits.

Alison Johnson: Alison Johnson is a freelance writer who specializes in feature stories on health, nutrition and fitness, as well as biographical profiles. A former full-time newspaper reporter, she has worked for two Virginia dailies and the Associated Press in Richmond. She lives in Yorktown, Va., with her husband and two sons.