Enjoying Every Day: Dan’s Hawaii Wish

 When 5-year-old Dan was in the hospital for his third heart surgery, he daydreamed about his wish trip to see the ocean in Hawaii. 

 I wish to go to the Beach! 

When Dan was in the hospital for his heart surgery, his mom Charlene would distract him by asking, “What do you want to do when you get out of here?” Dan replied, “Go to the beach!” That was Dan’s one true wish — a trip to the beach in Hawaii with his parents and siblings! 

5-year-old Dan loves trucks, drawing, and playing outside, especially at the beach, of course. Dan was born with his heart condition, and when he was just a few months old, Charlene and Travis, new foster parents, got a call about a foster baby with heart disease at the hospital. That heart baby was Dan. After 5 years that included countless doctors’ visits, two open heart surgeries before Charlene and Travis started fostering, and a third surgery when Dan was four, Dan was officially adopted in 2025. 

Surfing, Snorkeling, and Connecting with a Heart Brother 

“It’s been a long road,” says Charlene. “We have definitely learned to take one day at a time and enjoy every day.” To celebrate Dan’s successful surgery and “getting the heck out of the hospital,” Dan and his family had six especially enjoyable days on their wish trip to Oahu, Hawaii! While in Oahu, Dan swam in the clear blue waters, learned to surf, and even went snorkeling, where he saw colorful fish and amazing sea life. 

While in Hawaii, Dan and his family visited their close friends who live on Oahu. Amazingly, these friends are also a wish family, whose wish kid, Kua, is both a heart child and adopted from foster care, just like Dan. “We call them heart brothers,” says Charlene. Dan and Kua Facetime all the time, and Dan loves to watch videos of the two of them hula dancing together in Hawaii. 

Time to Simply Be Together 

Charlene reflects that “everything about our experience has been wonderful. We definitely see the benefit.” Wishes broaden the horizons of kids like Dan, and they give families quality time to simply be together. “We are so thankful for our experience. The whole family 

benefits,” Charlene says. She describes how much her older children have also had to sacrifice during Dan’s health journey, and how special it was “to say yes to them all as well. We just had fun together without worries.” 

Dan’s family are now sharing the joy of a wish with other families through Wishmakers Circle, raising the cost of one future wish. You can help Dan’s family support a future wish kid by contributing to their campaign: https://secure2.wish.org/site/TR?fr_id=7095&pg=entry.