| The
following article appeared in the October 2009 issue of
"Boca
man fulfills child’s wish to meet WALL-E"
South
Florida Parenting Magazine
By Dave Rossman
Posted
October,
2009
Four-year-old
George Jacobs recently had his wish come true in Boca Raton.
When he was 5 months old, George learned he had neuroblastoma,
a cancer that forms in the nerve tissue. He has gone through
two surgeries, eight rounds of chemotherapy and lost a kidney.
The Make-a-Wish Foundation has been trying to
fulfill George's wish for years, but he did not have one until
recently. "They kept contacting us, but he was just too
young and didn't really have a specific wish," said
George's mother Betsy Jacobs. "That all changed when he
saw the film, WALL-E, and all he wanted to do was meet
WALL-E."
The Jacobs began researching places that may have
the robot and planned to come to the South Florida Science
Museum to view an exhibit, but they ended up with a much more
personal encounter.
Boca Raton resident Rick Newman has an extensive robot
collection, and the Make-a-Wish Foundation contacted him about
the family visiting Boca Raton.
"It just so happened that all of my robots
are home between exhibits for maintenance and programming, and
we are absolutely thrilled they are here," Newman said.
The Jacobs were flown from their home in New
Jersey and spent the day at the Newman's, as George and his
twin brother, Thomas, basked in robot utopia. There were
robots big and small, talking and silent, but George kept
coming back to his favorite: WALL-E.
"Look at my shorts! Look at my shorts," exclaimed
George, who was clad head to toe in WALL-E garb.
The foundation asked if he wanted to meet Mickey
at Disney, and he said, 'No, I want to meet WALL-E.' Ever
since he saw the film, it is all he talked about; and this is
just so incredible," his mother said.
George had been counting down the days to the big meeting and
could hardly contain himself.
"He would put a sticker on the calendar for
each day that passed by, and it really was all he could talk
about," she said. "I cannot put into words what it
means to see him so happy and so excited about all of
this."
Newman also reached out to contacts in the
industry, several of which donated toys and robots.
"We received several donations, and we also
bought him a new WALL-E DVD and blanket," Newman said.
"Seeing the look on his face is priceless, and who
wouldn't reach out to help a child in this situation."
To check out Newman's collection, visit
www.hightechscience.org/robots.htm
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