Accomplish MN: Make-A-Wish Recipient, Noah, Documents Trip To Australia

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- WCCO teamed up with Make-A-Wish Minnesota last March to accomplish something big. Through your generosity, over 18 million airline miles were raised to grant the wishes of local kids.

One of those kids was Noah, a teenager from Rochester. More than 700,000 of the miles you donated helped grant his wish to see one of the Seven Wonders of the Natural World.

There was no holding back Noah's smile before the once-in-a-lifetime trip this fall.

"I am super excited, this is going to be a whole lot of fun," Noah said. "I'm really pumped up about this."

The 15-year-old and his family of seven were headed Australia's Great Barrier Reef.

"Noah's been through a lot over the years, while he's endured it, the rest of the family has too, with him," Noah's father, Wade Hanson, said. "So that's what's really nice, is they allow everyone to go along on his wish."

Noah's medical condition has to use a wheelchair to get around, but when he's swimming, he feels free, and who could think of a better place in the world, to swim?

"I've seen tropical fish," Noah said. "But, I've never been in the water on a real reef before, so that's going to be real awesome and exciting."

To chronicle his wish Noah, like any good teenager, was armed with his smart phone.

"Koala selfie!"

And after landing in Australia, he took over story-telling duties.

"I'm so happy. It's like 90 degrees outside right now, and it's totally sweet," Noah said, narrating the view from his hotel. "You can see the ocean over there."

He spent plenty of time in the water; swimming, snorkeling and scuba-diving. But the wish trip was so much more. Noah got to get cozy with local wildlife and take in some iconic sights.

"It's nightfall in Sydney and I am at the Sydney Opera House," Noah said. "It's very, very pretty. And now if I turn this way, I've got the harbor bridge in the background."

When the trip was over, Noah wasn't ready to say goodbye -- more like 'see you later.'

"So long down under, so long outback, so long Australia. I'll see you guys soon," Noah said.

Noah's family was so moved by the generosity of WCCO viewers, they donated 45,000 of their own airline miles back to Make-A-Wish Minnesota.

We've got even more wishes to grant this year, so we're holding another airline miles drive on Wednesday, Feb. 25. To donate your airline miles now, click here.

In:
• Australia