For December, WTOP is bringing you “Wish Wednesday,” where we spotlight what Make-A-Wish Mid-Atlantic does for families in D.C., Virginia and Maryland. If you would like to help make a wish kid’s dream come true, please visit the foundation’s website.
When you think of popular requests to Make-A-Wish, trips to Walt Disney World in Florida and meeting celebrities like WWE superstar John Cena come to mind.
Zahara Weeks, a 16-year-old from Suitland, Maryland, spent an afternoon at WTOP with other wish kids and shared details about her wish that was granted in July.
It was a request that would have caused Chief Brody from the film “Jaws” to say, “We’re going to need a bigger boat.”
“My wish was to swim with whale sharks,” said Weeks, an 11th grader. “Whale sharks have been my favorite animal for a while.”
Weeks’ love for the whale shark started after discovering it was the biggest fish in the world.
“They can get pretty big, like a school bus,” Weeks said. “They really make me think about, like, my impact on the world, because they’re so big, yet there’s not a lot known about them.”
In July, Weeks along with her mom, dad and 3-year-old brother took a wish trip to Cancun, Mexico.
During the trip, they took a private tour out on the Atlantic Ocean and so she could swim with whale sharks.
In her first jump in the water, she was joined by her father, and her mother, Kesha, would also come for a swim.
“I’m like, ‘Oh, what do we look for?’” Kesha recalled. “They say ‘Jaws,’ but bigger. I’m like ‘OK,’ (but) they’re like, ‘You won’t be able to miss it.’”
Kesha said seeing her daughter have that experience was emotional.
“It was just an amazing experience for her to have that, knowing how much she wanted to have that,” Kesha said.
While swimming with the whale shark was something Zahara loved, she also liked the company, especially swimming in the pool with her little brother.
“It’s kind of just nice to get away with your family. And that definitely was what the wish trip was for us,” Zahara said. “It kind of brought us together.”
While talking about the trip, Zahara said she wanted to thank everyone who made it happen, and how amazing Make-A-Wish Mid-Atlantic was to her and her family.
Shortly after, Kesha spoke of the gratitude she felt for the organization.
“Not only for the wish that they granted for my child and the experience that my family had, but to know that these types of wishes are being granted to other families,” Kesha said.
When Zahara was a month old, she was diagnosed with a blood disease.
“Where we are now, knowing where she’s come from, it’s been amazing,” Kesha said. “She’s a fighter.”
Immense pride is what Keisha said she feels for her daughter.
“She’s a kind kid, she’s smart, she’s beautiful inside and out, and her diagnosis is a part of a part of that,” Kesha said.
“She’s learned to embrace that and recognize that part of her strength and her resilience is because of the situations that she’s been a part of, because of her diagnosis.”
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