Make-A-Wish grants Fort Pierce cancer patient $4,000 shopping spree at White's Tackle
It's a blessing being a teenager during a Treasure Coast summer. Days are spent fishing, going to the beach, skateboarding, boating, snorkeling, playing video games and riding bikes.
Brandon Reed, 15, of Fort Pierce, is one of those kids. When he is not skateboarding, he and a couple of friends can be found running around on local waterways fishing for snook and tarpon from his 15-foot skiff.
This year, however, Brandon's summer plans aren't quite what he envisioned. Interspersed with cranking out Five-Os and frontsides and reeling in leg-long snook and 100-pound tarpon, Brandon makes regular hospital trips to receive treatment for cancer.
In November, Brandon noticed that a bump on his left forearm seemed to be growing to the size of an egg. A visit to a local walk-in clinic resulted in a biopsy at a Miami hospital and the diagnosis of cancer, said his mom, Devon Reed.
"It's all still sort of surreal," she said. As if that wasn't enough, her 13-year-old daughter, Ella, had received minor injuries to her foot when she was bitten by a shark at the North Jetty in Fort Pierce in May.
Brandon, who began treatment just after Thanksgiving, is optimistic about his prognosis. Skateboarding and fishing plans had been postponed for a few months, but he recently has resumed his normal activities.
Someone referred Brandon to Make-A-Wish, a national nonprofit that grants wishes to children struggling with a variety of serious illnesses. The organization grants about 300 wishes each week and 87% of the recipients say it was a turning point in their recovery process, according to the Make-A-Wish Foundation of America.
Make-A-Wish approached the Reed family about helping Brandon realizing his dream. At first, his mother politely declined the offer. She told the organization to offer their services to another kid because Brandon had everything he needed.
Make-A-Wish tried again in May. Would Brandon like a trip to Alaska to fish for halibut? Or what about tuna fishing off San Diego?
Nope. His top three choices were, "White's Tackle, White's Tackle, White's Tackle," according to Christina Webber, a salesperson at the Fort Pierce bait and tackle shop founded in 1925.
Brandon is a well-known regular at the store he frequents to buy everything from sunglasses to hooks to rods, line and lures. Since 2015, White's Tackle has expanded to include stores in Stuart, Jupiter and Vero Beach.
When Brandon went on his $4,000 Make-A-Wish shopping spree on June 16, he was joined by his sister, mother and over a dozen friends — all transported by Cisco Limo of West Palm Beach. Brandon spent hours picking out fishing reels, a cast net, lures and bait buckets.
In addition, White's Tackle donated a Yeti cooler and No Live Bait Needed donated soft jigs and jerk baits.
"I'm blessed I was able to come in and raid my favorite tackle shop," Brandon said.
Ed Killer is the outdoors writer for TCPalm. Email him at ed.killer@tcpalm.com.
This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Make-A-Wish grants Fort Pierce teen cancer patient shopping spree
