Four-year-old George Jacobs recently had his wish come true in Boca Raton. Jacobs was diagnosed with neuroblastoma, a cancer that forms in the nerve tissue, when he was 5-months-old, and 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. That all changed when he saw the film "WALL-E" and all he wanted to do was meet WALL-E,” said George’s mother Betsy Jacobs.
The Jacobses 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 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,” said Newman.
The Jacobses were flown from their home in New Jersey and spent the day at Newman's as George and his twin brother Thomas basked in robot utopia. There were robots big and small, talking and non, 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,” said Jacobs.
To check out Newman’s collection, visit www.hightechscience.org/robots.htm.