Flying high to make a child's wish come true

December 14, 2024 at 09:01 AM EST

(BPT) - Twelve-year-old Lucas has always loved everything connected with aviation - and learning more about planes is one of the things that keeps him feeling strong and joyful, even when he is dealing with the daily challenges of having congenital heart disease. This chronic health condition affects the way his blood flows through his heart and blood vessels, which can lead to fatigue, difficulty breathing and other serious symptoms that negatively impact his everyday life.

"When I was twelve or so weeks pregnant, we got the news that Lucas' heart was different, which was tough news to learn," said his mom, Stephanie. "But we've had a couple surgeries, and now we're at a stage where he looks and acts pretty much like any other kid."

And when Lucas learned that he would be able to have a wish granted by Make-A-Wish^® - which has a mission to grant life-changing wishes for children with critical illnesses - Lucas knew just what he wanted right away. His wish was to have an A380 plane experience. The A380 is Lucas' favorite kind of airplane, and he already knows a lot about this type of plane, among many others. Lucas shared that he would love to see the landing gear, the cockpit, where the flight attendants sleep, and to learn anything and everything there is to know about the A380.

Thankfully, Make-A-Wish has had a longstanding national partnership with United Airlines over the years, which would make fulfilling his wish possible. Because over 80% of the wishes from children in Make-A-Wish involve some form of travel, airfare costs are the greatest expense on fulfilling their wishes. In fact, Make-A-Wish would need over 2.8 billion miles to cover every travel wish each year. It is imperative for Make-A-Wish to have generous corporate partners like United Airlines to help make wishes like Lucas' come true.

"Lucas' wish was absolutely amazing. It was a great day, exhausting. But it was awesome to do all the things," said Stephanie. "It was fun to have Make-A-Wish involved for familiar faces, and we didn't realize there were so many jobs outside of the pilot that you can work in the airport. This was more than we could have dreamed of."

How you can help

If you'd like to join the efforts to help fulfill wishes from more children all year long, United Airlines is inviting their MileagePlus members with the opportunity to donate their reward miles to several charities, including Make-A-Wish, through their "Miles on a Mission" platform.

Even better, during the holiday season, from Dec. 3 through 31, 2024, United Airlines is stepping up their support of Make-A-Wish even more. Customers are invited to donate miles or money to Make-A-Wish, and United will match miles donations up to 5 million miles, and cash donations will be matched with United travel certificates up to $500,000. In addition, $1 from every illy^® cold brew purchased in flight will be donated to Make-A-Wish, up to $25,000, helping to bring hope to more children facing critical illnesses.

You can unwrap the power of a wish today and help grant life-changing wishes for children with critical illnesses like Lucas this holiday season by visiting Wish.org/united-donate.