So cool that a Kansas teen got his wish to work with sea turtles come true at Gumbo Limbo Nature Center in Boca! Here's the story:
BOCA RATON, Fla. (CBS12) — Make-A-Wish Southern Florida made a 14-year-old Kansas teenager battling cancer’s wish to work with sea turtles come true. Keeton Nimrod has been through a lot. He was diagnosed with stage three lymphoma about two years ago. But Tuesday, his family was able to see a smile the haven’t seen in a long time. “He’s a little on the quieter side, but to watch his facial expressions, you could tell that he was thrilled to be here and so excited to participate in handling the turtles,” said his mother, Susan Nimrod. “I just loved them since I’ve been a baby and I just love how they are,” Keeton Nimrod said.
At the Gumbo Limbo Nature Center, it was a big departure from Keeton’s normal routine of doctors and medicine. “It’s been two years of being in treatment and basically battling for his life every day and not being able to play with his friends,” Susan Nimrod said. “And then having the kindness of complete strangers bring us here and then show us just a wonderful day and be able to make his dreams come true was phenomenal.”
“It’s far away from the medication, away from the hospitals, away from the doctors and we go right back next week,” his father, Steven Nimrod, said. To finish up their adventure, the Nimrod family returned at night hoping to see a sea turtle lay eggs. While Keeton Nimrod was having the time of his life, his family was too: watching him experience joy, even just for a day.
“I never had an experience like this and it was amazing,” he said. His parents said he’s not out of the woods, but his cancer is doing a lot better and they’re hopeful that one day, it will be fully in remission.