Reddit Users Share Bizarre Make-A-Wish Wishes Granted

From Redditor u/jayblaze521:

I worked as a chef at a fancy steakhouse in Jacksonville, Florida. My owner approached me and said, "This is Stacy, the new girl. She will train with you." I looked over; this cute little girl wore a bright pink chef coat. I babysat my cousins then, so I knew how to entertain 10-year-olds. I showed her the techniques. We made random things: candied bacon, cornbread, prosciutto-wrapped Boursin cheese-stuffed asparagus, a sweet tea-brined pork chop, a sorel garnish salad, and other cool garnishes. We had fun. Then, I made a cornbread purée and let her plate the dish several ways to show how to play with ingredients and height. She loved it. Only when the father came to me crying did I grasp what happened. I felt upset because no one told me. But I accepted it. I likely would not have been as sharp with the lessons had I known. Still, the experience felt good. I hope their family is okay. I reworked and re-ran that dish a few times in memory of that day; it was impactful.

From Redditor u/RhoZie013:

After surviving cancer at 17, I got a wish. My family and I went to Christmas Island to see the spawning of the red crabs—believed to be one of the seven natural wonders of the world.

Imagine this: a million fist-sized red land crabs move toward the sea edge. They release their eggs into the ocean over about three hours.

The Make-A-Wish volunteers looked horrified when I explained it.

I am typing this now. Yes, I lived because of it.

From Redditor u/IronNuggetsYT:

My friend had all leukemia. He asked for a ride in a fighter jet and got one! Doctors said his bones were getting weak and fragile. I thought the jet's G-force would hurt him, but he was fine and had fun. He is better now and is scheduled out in about three months!

From Redditor u/aluminum26:

I hosted a visit to a planetarium for a kid whose wish was to go to the moon. The front office staff thought I would just give her a tour and show her high-resolution pictures. I felt she deserved more. I hired a jeweler and a meteorite enthusiast to make a silver crescent moon necklace. He donated it to the cause, and I gave a small lunar meteorite from my collection. The necklace looked gorgeous, thanks to my friend's skill and generosity.

We could not take her to the moon, so we gave her the necklace. She was thrilled. Later, she said the best part of the trip was the astronaut ice cream. Kids.

From Redditor u/gaycryptid:

A coworker at my college job had leukemia as a child. He wished to be in the Iditarod. They flew his family to Alaska. He met all the dogs and rode in a sled for a leg of the race. I recall he also got a husky puppy.

I met him at 20. I was a couple of years older and graduated college. I never saw him again. The leukemia returned, and he died in 2016. He was probably not much older than 25. He was one of the nicest guys I ever met. I hope heaven is real for you, Ben.

From Redditor u/ByteAboutTown:

I worked at a hospice with a wishing program. A 24-year-old patient with brain cancer wanted to hold a sloth. Sloths are very nervous creatures, so holding one is tricky.

I found a local company that visits schools and similar places with a sloth. Sloths poop about once a week. The sloth could only travel the day after pooping because they get nervous; otherwise, the sloth gets stress diarrhea. We waited until the sloth pooped on Thanksgiving and set up the visit for the next morning. The patient held and petted a very sweet sloth. The patient died about three weeks later. I am happy I gave her joy in her final weeks.

From a former Redditor:

There was a kid who wanted to work with the team designing D&D.

He spent a day working with them on their next release book and helping design a monster.a monster. He suggested a monster that ended up being designed into one of the coolest monsters in the book.

From Redditor u/sealing_tile:

I knew a guy who got sick in high school. His wish was to see Rocksteady Studios and be in one of their games. The studio seemed really cool. They put him in Arkham Knight.Arkham KnightHe became a GCPD officer. The best part is he recovered and is still doing okay today.

From Redditor u/hawkmech67:

I was a Blackhawk pilot in the Army. A Make-A-Wish kid wanted to fly in an Army helicopter. We removed all the seats to strap his wheelchair in the middle. We flew him around at treetop level, yanking and banking with the doors open.

From Redditor u/imcoolerthan_u:

I was a Make-A-Wish kid in 2017. My wish was to see a live brain surgery in Seattle at the University of Washington. I loved Grey's Anatomy.Grey's Anatomy, I loved Dr. Shepherd. I had brain cancer, so I wanted to see what my doctors saw. I learned a lot. I was a neurosurgeon for a day; the neurosurgeon played The Pixies while operating. That was a great happy moment; I will not forget it. They sent my family from Arizona to Seattle with me for dinner at the Space Needle.

From Redditor u/JakeRogue:

I worked at a LEGO store in the 2000s. Make-A-Wish contacted us about a child with terminal Osteosarcoma who wanted a day in the store. LEGO denied the request, which surprised me and the staff because LEGO is a great company. The staff decided to grant the wish themselves. We closed the store early on a Sunday. We invited the child and family in. He ran the whole store. We paid for about $1000 worth of toys for him to take home. We spent the whole evening building what he wanted. He passed a few months later.

From Redditor u/SemiSweetStrawberry:

I am a Wish Granter. My strangest wish was a refurbished '80s camper so she could have her own space. She could not go out while her transplant was new, and she was going crazy at home with two younger siblings. It was cool, though MAW cannot use 'used' items like that. So we got her a new VW camper or something similar. We made it look vintage.

Apply to be a Make-A-Wish volunteer! It is a rewarding experience. Even if you do not like working with kids, other volunteer jobs exist, like fundraising or event planning.

From Redditor u/corvuscolluder:

A kid at my church wished to sit in a bathtub full of peach-colored loofahs. He wanted the soft ball kind, not the hard sponge ones. He got it. The church bulletin showed a picture of this kid smiling wildly in a huge tub of loofahs, so I guess he was happy.

From Redditor u/tinbasher97:

My sister had cancer when she was five. She got a chance to make a wish; I was eight.

When our mom and the Make-A-Wish person met with her, they told her she could wish for anything.

She kept saying she wanted macaroni. They kept saying, 'But it can be anything you want!' She just wanted macaroni and cheese.

After strong encouragement to think bigger, the Make-A-Wish person suggested Disneyland. She chose to go to Disneyland.

From Redditor u/ericakay15:

This is wholesome. A girl who was a grade above me had cancer in high school. She graduated, and I joined the band my senior year to see a plaque with her name and face from Make-A-Wish. She used her wish to donate new instruments to the school's band because they needed new ones. I still know her. She jokes about cancer so much it freaked out her college roommates. She is one of the nicest people I have ever met.

From Redditor u/Jakl42:

On a carrier, they flew a kid and his parents. They routinely fly distinguished visitors, but this kid seemed weird. They got tours and watched flight ops. He could not fly with them, so they arranged dinner. This let him meet pilots and ask questions. Realizing this was his goal was humbling. He simply wanted to see what they did and hang out with them.

From Redditor u/ligamentary:

I taught a Make-A-Wish kid once. Their wish was to tour a pickle factory.

Pickles were their favorite food. They wanted to see how the sausage was made.

Vlasic rose to the occasion. She had a great time.

From Redditor u/Allyson244:

My daughter was a Make-A-Wish kid. She asked to go to Australia to meet The Wiggles. Health issues stopped her travel. She made a second wish to meet Captain America. We never told Cap he was a backup wish after the Wiggles failed.

From Redditor u/josiemarcellino:

I shot an internal promotional video for Make-A-Wish. I read a large book of wishes they granted. Some wishes were extravagant and amazing. They included family vacations and celebrity meetings. Then, I saw a three-year-old wish for a banana split for breakfast.

They gave him that.

No one said, "Ayo. Wish higher."

From Redditor u/TankVet:

An organization approached me. They wanted to arrange a day for a kid to shadow a veterinarian. I am a small animal vet with a small hospital, so I found the approach strange.

I said yes. We picked a day. Regular patients were at the hospital. The kid watched us work all day. We gave him a lab coat and a stethoscope. He saw x-rays and ultrasounds and watched surgeries. I brought my dog so he could try the ultrasound on her.

He seemed to enjoy it. The request was not strange. My daily work is not usually a dream experience for people.