Twelve hours after ringing in the New Year, thousands were wringing water from their ears after jumping into the ocean for the Polar Plunge at Easton’s Beach in Newport.

The annual event, held by A Wish Come True, had special significance for the family of six-year-old Warwick resident Sofia Skipworth, who has been fighting leukemia since July of 2022. Sofia was one of two recipients of the event’s funds, with the other being Graciela Nieves, a sixteen-year-old from Kingston with cerebral palsy.

For Sofia’s family, seeing the turnout, including many with signs bearing her name, was a truly unique experience.

“[It’s been] a little overwhelming, but it’s exciting,” Christa Skipworth, Sofia’s mother, said. “It’s great to see so many people come out to support Sofia and Graciela.”

Andrew Skipworth, Sofia’s father, said that the family first found out about Sofia’s diagnosis right as they were heading back to live in Warwick, where they had lived previously in 2014.

“As soon as we got back to Rhode Island, our household goods hadn’t even arrived yet, she got ill,” Andrew said. “There were five days of a fever and it just wouldn’t break.”

Sofia’s disease has had an effect on her entire family, with Christa noting Sofia’s two brothers, Ethan and Nathan, have also had to deal with less attention due to Sofia’s condition and trips to the hospital.

According to Andrew, though, Sofia has been improving since August, and is currently in remission.

While dealing with the effects of chemotherapy and not being able to start school at the same time as her peers due to being immunocompromised have made learning harder for her, her parents said that she loves to read, create things, dance, do arts and crafts projects and help out other people.

Sofia and her family will be going to Disney Land and SeaWorld in Florida as her wish. It’ll be her first time at the resort.

“I don’t think she knows what to expect just yet,” Christa said. “But we’ve been showing her a lot of videos and photos. She definitely is impressed and excited to see Cinderella.”

This year marked the twentieth anniversary of A Wish Come True’s first Polar Plunge, though according to Executive Director Mary-Kate O’Leary, other plunges were held before her organization got involved.

O’Leary said that 2023 was a year of significant growth for A Wish Come True, with the organization managing to grant 43 wishes to children in Rhode Island. That more than doubled the 19 wishes the organization was able to grant the year before.

“Usually, a wish is about four to five thousand dollars, which is a lot,” O’Leary said. “Multiply that by forty, that’s $200,000, which is amazing in just a year alone.”

In 2024, A Wish Come True is looking to at least match that number, and O’Leary said that there are already 20 children on the nonprofit’s list this year, which she said was “unbelievable.”

“[We’ve got] big goals,” O’Leary said. “We’ve grown over 200 percent in the last five years, and we want to continue to grow.”

On the first day of the New Year, though, the Skipworth family was grateful to see the support for Sofia, and are looking forward to their trip to Florida.

“[A Wish Come True] really keep them in the family, so it’s not like you just do your wish and then you’re done,” Christa said. “They stay in touch. They’re always there to do events for the kid even after the wish.”