World Wish Day Makes an East Texas Teen’s Wish Come True

For 16-year-old Forest Wagner, the childhood dream of what it’s like to be a helicopter pilot came true today, thanks to the Make-A-Wish organization of North Texas.

A surprise helicopter landing at the ETMC Air 1’s helipad in Tyler greeted Forest and his family.  The Winnsboro teen's wish included a tour of the helicopter and his own personal flight suit. Forest will also receive pilot lessons from Sky Helicopter in addition to books and certificates needed for pilot training.

Today marked the 30th year worldwide that the Make-A-Wish organization has been granting wishes to children with life-threatening medical conditions. Since its inception in 1982, Make-A-Wish has granted more than 6,900 wishes.

On April 29, more than 30 years to the day after a young leukemia patient named Chris was granted his wish to be a police officer for a day, Make-A-Wish® supporters around the globe will celebrate World Wish Day, in honor of the wish that sparked a global wish-granting movement.