BATON ROUGE - On Friday, hundreds passed through BREC's Baton Rouge Zoo as part of Dreamnight, a global initiative where zoos open their gates to medically vulnerable children for a special event.

Nine-year-old Xavier Chew said Friday was the best day of his life.

"Let me say something. Every nine-year-old should deserve this, this is the best day of your life. If you go here, you're going to see tons of things you like to see," he said.

His mother Laketria West said his smile is something to see.

"Priceless, absolutely, positively priceless," she said.

Chew learned on Friday morning that he had been cleared to attend Dreamnight. Chew was then escorted by police and welcomed by zoo staff. Along with seeing animals, Chew got to meet his favorite characters and spend time with his mother.

Chew has bone cancer which paralyzed his legs. But West said her son is getting stronger.

"It's starting to look good, very good, formed, certain things from his waist down are starting to reactivate and it's lovely," West said.

There were over 380 people invited to the event. The zoo said Our Lady of the Lake selected those attending.

"They don't have to jostle with the crowd, they don't have to worry about the heat, especially the heat, it's a really nice casual night event," Zoo Director Jim Fleshman said.

West said it is a time for children to be children outside of the hospital.

"The kids are in the hospital half of their life, half of the time," West said.
"Look how long they've been at the hospital, look how long they've been cooped up in a room, a bed, look how long they've been hooked up to machines."

The Baton Rouge Zoo said the event would not have been possible without the support of many in the community including Our Lady of the Lake St. Jude's Wing, BASF, Baton Rouge Police, the Law Enforcement Criminal Justice Foundation, the Baton Rouge Zoo Foundation, Gerry Lane Chevrolet and many more.