Make A Wish Foundation helps boy

By Howell Dennis

MERMENTAU – Marcus Coree Sipes, who goes by Coree, completed a very exciting trip on Sunday. The sixteen-year-old, San Antonio native just completed a four-day visit to south Louisiana where he got to visit his relatives in Mermentau and Gueydan for the first time. Needless to say, it’s been a very eventful week.

“You can look in his eyes and see how excited he is,” said Jodean Leblanc, Coree’s mother. “This is so different than the environment he is used to...he is just so happy to be around all of his relatives.”

The Make a Wish Foundation made the trip possible, furnishing the family with an RV, money for gas, and dozens of movies, games, and other treats to make Coree’s trip more comfortable and enjoyable.

Coree was diagnosed as having a heart defect when he was two months old. At three months he suffered a heart attack. He used to suffer from as many as fifteen seizures per day though he has been seizure-free for twelve years with the help of medication. His surgeries have included two heart surgeries, four hip surgeries, stomach surgery and a dental surgery. On Friday, however, he seemed to be feeling quite vigorous.

“He’s been looking around at the new surroundings this week with the happiest look in his face,” said Coree’s grandmother Marilyn Leblanc. “We’ve been looking forward to this visit for quite some time.”

It seems as though Coree has a keen eye for the ladies as well. During Friday’s visit, one of Coree’s cousins, a pretty girl named Amber Lejeune, received the majority of his attention.

“Are you flirting with Amber?,” asked his smiling mother.

Coree responded by nodding his head with a sly smile.

“You can’t do that she’s your cousin,” she said as the entire family erupted in laughter.

Coree recently gave his mother away at her wedding when she married Randy Leblanc, a Gueydan native. He also served as the best man and the ring bearer.

“He took an immediate liking to Randy,” said Leblanc. “He started calling him ‘daddy’ almost from the moment he met him.”

If Friday’s visit was any indication, Coree has a gift for making those around him very happy.

“He truly is my angel,” Leblanc said.