NEED TO KNOW
Jayce Bickford, 20, learned her Make-A-Wish wish was coming true during a shift at Sam’s Club
She spent a day on set with the cast of The Summer I Turned Pretty, who surprised her with cake, muffins and plenty of laughter
Looking back, she says the experience felt like “such a fever dream” and one she’ll cherish forever
Jayce Bickford’s wish brought her face-to-face with the stars of her favorite show — and millions online can’t get enough of her story. A TikTok capturing her Make-A-Wish day with the cast of The Summer I Turned Pretty went viral, using the platform’s “Holy Freaking Airball” trend.
The video revealed snapshots of Jayce, now 20, laughing with the cast, walking to the pier and sharing inside jokes that fans recognized instantly.
“There’s one picture of me and my best friend on the little walkway from the house to the pier on the lake over there and everyone says that from the back, we look like Laurel and Susanna and I love that,” Bickford tells PEOPLE.
Her journey to that pier began in the most unexpected place: the floor of a Sam’s Club. “I was working at Sam’s Club and they came to my work,” she recalls. “They brought me my favorite Starbucks drink and pulled me to a side with like a little gift bag, and they were like, ‘Surprise, your wish is coming true.’ “
That moment of shock gave way to dreaming about what her wish could be. “Honestly, when I first was thinking about my wish, I never thought to meet someone famous,” Bickford tells PEOPLE. “I was like everyone does that, they’re never gonna remember me…but for COVID regulations we were still in at the time, I couldn’t go on an international trip yet.”
Her mind kept coming back to one show. “I kind of like really liked the show The Summer I Turned Pretty, and like they were pretty new,” she says. “I was like, they’ll definitely remember me.”
Jayce Bickford
Jayce Bickford and Lola Tung
The day of the visit, nerves coursed through her body as she stepped onto the set. “Oh, I was so nervous. I couldn’t even talk at first,” she admits. “I didn’t know what to talk about, but they were so sweet, so down to earth, and just the sweetest people.”
Meeting creator Jenny Han added another layer of warmth. “We met Jenny as well,” Bickford says. “She was sweet as pie, made me feel very welcome and they even made me like some muffins and a cake and all kinds of stuff.”
Jayce and her friend were treated like insiders, even getting a ride in one of the show’s most iconic vehicles. “We went on set,” she recalls. “They had someone drive the red Jeep to the summer house as well.”
As the day unfolded, each cast member left an impression. “Honestly, Jeremiah, or I guess Gavin [Casalegno], is exactly like himself in the show,” she says. “He is so talkative and so outgoing.”
Others surprised her in different ways. “Belly or Lola [Tung] was a little more shy than I thought she would be, but she was so sweet,” Bickford tells PEOPLE. “And then Chris [Briney] was so funny as well. I felt like he was a very shy person, but he was hilarious, and they all made me feel super welcome.”
“We kind of just joked around the whole time and talked about where we work and how filming is for them,” she continues. “What was really interesting was that whenever they film, they can pull the roof off the whole set, and I thought that was so crazy.”
Even silly conversations turned into memories she’ll never forget. “Me, Chris, Lola and my friend that came with me, her name’s Caroline, we were talking about getting Sean [Kaufman]’s name tattooed across our chest, like joking around like that,” she laughs.
Speaking on what the experience meant, Jayce pauses, trying to find the right words. “Honestly, I don’t even know,” she admits. “It was just like such a dream, honestly. I’m like, that doesn’t even feel real. It was such a fever dream.”
What she remembers most isn’t just the cast but the feeling. “I don’t even remember half of the conversations we had,” she says. “But it was so fun and a very sweet experience.”
For Jayce, getting to that moment required courage through health challenges that nearly derailed her life. “I was in college for a little bit, and I failed college because I was just so tired, like I couldn’t get out of bed, and we had no clue what was going on,” she recalls. “We just thought I was anemic.”
Jayce Bickford
Jayce and Caroline in front of The Summer I Turned Pretty set
The signs kept multiplying until a doctor visit changed everything. “I would get like bruises everywhere, had no clue what they were from,” she says. “So I finally went home, and we went to the doctor. I had this random cough that would not go away.”
What came next was life-altering. After an initial blood test was inconclusive, she was rerouted to a hospital, where she was diagnosed with leukemia.
“Then we ended up going [to the hospital] and they ran a bunch of tests and then they admitted me,” she recalls. “And then we actually found out during all those tests that I had a failed kidney as well.”
Treatment became an unpredictable journey. “Now, I’m good. I’m in remission,” Bickford says. “I’ve been in remission twice — I went in the first time, and then when I had surgery on my kidney, they had to take me off of my chemo, so then it came back, but now I’m in remission again.”
Through it all, she held onto optimism. “Honestly, to be positive about everything helped,” she explains. “With everything that was happening, and me being in the hospital, I honestly think a good mindset makes it so much easier in a way.”
Jayce Bickford
Jayce Bickford, her friend Caroline and Christopher Briney
She says that picking a wish was a surprisingly difficult task. “Honestly, I looked on TikTok and Google because it’s so hard to fathom that you can really do anything,” she says. “It was so crazy, so I TikTok’ed a bunch of stuff to try to get ideas and I like wrote ’em all down.”
She narrowed her dreams into a top three before making her final choice. “I just figured out my top three of what I wanted to do and then just handed it to them, and I was like, this is my top one,” Bickford tells PEOPLE. “Just pick one, I really don’t care.”
Her second choice was international. “My second one was to go to Italy, but we couldn’t do international travel,” she says. “And then my third one was to go to New York during the ball drop on New Year’s Eve.”
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
Even without Italy, she got a surprise. “Actually, my dad surprised me and we ended up going to New York for Christmas,” she says.
Jayce Bickford
Jayce Bickford and Gavin Casalengo
But nothing compared to watching her TikTok take on a life of its own. “To see it blow up that much was honestly insane.”
Looking back, Jayce hopes other Make-A-Wish kids take heart in the endless possibilities. “Honestly, I know it’s tough, but just think about what would make you happiest,” she says. “You can really do anything.”
Her story, captured in pictures, video and now memory, is one she’ll carry forever. “It was just so fun and very much like a dream,” Bickford says. “It doesn’t even feel real, but I’ll never forget it.”
Read the original article on People