Wishes In Flight: Kyra's Story
WCCO is proud to be teaming up with Make-a-Wish Minnesota as they make kids dreams come true. Each year, nearly 300 kids with life-threatening illnesses get their wish granted, thanks to the generosity of people like you.
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- All day Tuesday we've been sharing the stories of kids who've had their dreams come true thanks to Make-A-Wish Minnesota.
And now we need you to make even more wishes take flight.
Meet Kyra.
She's a bubbly 9-year old girl from Apple Valley, with one exception.
"Kyra has cystic fibrosis," said Mark, her dad. "She was diagnosed at 3 months."
Cystic fibrosis causes mucus to build up in Kyra's lungs, making it hard for her to breath.
To fight that, she has to wear a special vest daily that shakes her chest, clearing the mucus from her lungs.
"She does it twice a day," Mark said. "For 30 minutes so."
Kyra calls it "an hour wasted."
"But I always tell her it's an hour spent on her iPad," Mark said.
Kyra's condition also makes it difficult for her to digest food. So every day she has to take dozens of pills.
"The black one is a vitamin," Kyra said, pointing to her pills. "This one is the acidophilus, the pink one...I have no idea what the pink one is."
With a daily routine like this, it's no wonder, Kyra wanted to get far away.
"It was kind of cold at the time," she said. "So we decided to go somewhere warm, which was Hawaii."
Last October, the family packed up and headed to the Big Island. They visited a pineapple plantation, hiked up a volcano and then swan with dolphins.
But if you talk to Kyra, you get the feeling that her favorite part was spending time with her sister and parents.
"These girls are growing up, and it's hard to, you know, find a lot of time for us as a family to be together," Mark said. "So, that was the big thing that my wife and I were really happy about."
And if Kyra has her way, they'll do it again soon.
If you'd like to help make Kyra's wish come true, you can donate air travel miles to Make-a-Wish Minnesota by clicking here.