Menallen boy sees wish come true
He sings, he dances, he fetches, and while he may not be what you’d expect from “man’s best friend,” he is Colby Cole’s greatest wish: a very special robot fashioned after a rather small dog. The AIBO robot was donated to help the Pittsburgh chapter of the Make A Wish Foundation fulfill Colby’s wish for his very own robot.
Colby had told Make A Wish volunteers Todd Trozzo and Jill Barkley that he wanted the robot to play with and to fetch toys. The foundation funds wishes for children with critical illnesses.
Colby’s wish was moved up when doctors learned he was experiencing a setback in treatment for his rare form of juvenile myelomonocytic leukemia.
Diagnosed with the aggressive form of cancer Jan. 4, Colby responded well to the initial chemotherapy and radiation treatment, paving the way for the donated bone marrow to speed him toward recovery. At day 31 after the transplant, Colby was operating on 100 percent donor cells. But, one week later, doctors discovered that the donor cells were under an aggressive attack by the cancer cells.
To slow the progression and allow the donor cells to overcome the cancer, Colby was placed on an experimental research drugs, which have halted the progression of cancer cells at just under 50 percent and haven’t given him many side effects, except a decrease in appetite.
“When he sailed though chemo and the bone marrow transplant, I thought ‘we are almost there,'” said his mother, Laura Cole, but quickly she learned that Colby’s form of leukemia, even when pushed into full remission, could open the door to other forms of cancer.
“We are going to have to be forever watchful,” she said.
In the meantime, the youngster can enjoy AIBO, the Japanese word for “pal.”
The diminutive doggie robot has a full range of real dog reactions: He stretches when patted, comes when called and scratches at his ears. But some other volunteers from Carnegie Mellon University got involved to customize the high-tech pooch just for Colby.
“We haven’t even seen all of his programming, and the guys were here until almost 11 p.m. (Thursday),” said Laura Cole.
Most of the crowd gathered to help Colby celebrate his wish come true stood back in awe while the boy laughed and applauded his new friend.
“Oh, this is so cool,” Colby said, watching AIBO march across the carpet to one of his favorite tunes, “I’m in the Lord’s Army,” with a smart salute at the end.
Colby played fetch with AIBO, Laura Cole explained that the illness has made playtime harder on the active 4-year-old. Where Colby used to romp and play with a large crowd of kids for 10 hours each day at day care, he is now at home with his mom and younger brother, Cameron, 2.
Now, Laura Cole said that instead of playing at giving his brother shots, she hopes to see Colby more interested in dancing and playing like a regular kid with the robotic dog. The walking, talking, dancing whirlwind is just Colby-sized (a little larger than a Chihuahua), so Colby can lift it without strain and carry him around the house under his arm.
Trozzo noted that Dr. Dave Touretzky, head of computer science at Carnegie Mellon, as well as two students pursuing their master’s degrees, didn’t sleep for two nights while getting the little robot ready.
“So many different people get involved when you get a wish as unique as Colby’s,” Trozzo said.
To show Colby just how versatile AIBO is, Touretzky and his two programmers, Ethan and Alok, played a tape at the party of last year’s robotic soccer games in Japan.
The annual game features two teams of four robot dogs playing against each other another for a trophy. Last year, the Carnegie Mellon team took home the victory and the tape that they played for Colby.
But while his parents are watchful, Colby can have a break from the grown-up world by watching his new robotic pal do push-ups and dance to his favorite Shania Twain song.