<< Previous   of   Next >> Michael O'Leary / The Herald  (click to enlarge) Zach Cummings sits in one of the seats in a mockup of the 787 Dreamliner's interior Thursday at the Future of Flight museum in Everett. The Make-A-Wish Foundation arranged for Zach and his family to travel from Australia to fulfill his wish to tour the Everett Boeing plant. (click to enlarge) Zach inspects a model of a Boeing 727 during lunch at the Future of Flight and Boeing Tour. Michael O'Leary / The Herald  (click to enlarge) The Make-A-Wish Foundation arranged for Zach Cummings and his family to travel from Australia to fulfill his wish to tour the Everett Boeing plant. Cummings views models of Boeing products at The Future of Flight and Boeing Tour. Michael O'Leary / The Herald  (click to enlarge) Zach Cummings explores a model to the Roll-Royce Trent 1000 engine that will power some of Boeing's 787 Dreamliners at the Future of Flight museum on Thursday.

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Robert Frank, City Editor frank@heraldnet.com

Ailing boy makes a wish, and Boeing delivers

Australian boy lives out dream of seeing Everett plant

By Scott Pesznecker, Herald Writer

EVERETT -- When his health took a turn for the worse, Zach Cummings, 14, made a wish from his hospital bed.

The Australian boy who dreams of being a pilot wanted to see the Boeing plant.

Zach, who suffers from cystic fibrosis, traveled around the world with his family this week for special tours of the Boeing factory and Future of Flight Aviation Center.

Made possible by the Make-A-Wish Foundation, Zach rode through the mammoth factory on a motorized cart Thursday morning for up-close views of Boeing jets under construction. In the afternoon, he was given a tour of the Future of Flight Museum, including a free ride on the aviation center's flight simulator.

It was an amazing day for Zach, an airplane buff who also celebrated his birthday on Thursday.

"I'd like to thank all the people for my Make-A-Wish," Zach said.

Cystic fibrosis is an inherited chronic disease that affects the lungs and digestive system. Roughly 30,000 people in the United States and 70,000 worldwide have been diagnosed with the disease, according to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

Zach, who lives near Melbourne, enjoys music and playing sports. His family hopes to take him to a Mariners game and the Experience Music Project museum before leaving Seattle on Tuesday.

More than any of his hobbies, Zach loves airplanes. He uses a computer flight simulator to build his own jets, and he freehands his own schematic drawings. His grandfather owns books on military aircraft and Zach has read several of them. His passion, however, is commercial aircraft.

Someday, he wants to be a pilot. He knows so much about planes already, he said he might even be able to fly one.

"If it's right on the runway, and it's ready to take off, I reckon I might be able to," Zach said.

Zach is not terminally ill. Because of the unpredictable nature of his life-threatening illness, doctors had approached him previously about taking part in the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

The teen turned down the offers, thinking other children needed the foundation's help more than he did.

Then, late last year, Zach was hospitalized for two months. Doctors feared he would die in the hospital.

A couple of months earlier, a cousin of Zach's who also had cystic fibrosis died.

"We didn't feel so guilty after the lengthy hospital stay," said Zach's mother, Gabby Cummings. "After all Zach went through, we felt he deserved something."

Zach soaked everything in as David Reese, who oversees Boeing tours, drove him through the Boeing factory on Thursday. He was accompanied by his mother; his father, Darren Cummings; and his 8-year-old sister, Kyla.

Reese told Zach about the millions of rivets used to build each airplane, and showed him the laser-guided, moving assembly line for the 777 jets. Zach posed for pictures along an airplane wing, in an unfinished section of fuselage and in front of a 747.

At the end of the tour, Zach was given a blue duffel bag stuffed with gifts from airlines from all over the world. They gave him hats, shirts, airplane models, pens and other gadgets.

"It's great that we're known to a point that we're considered for a wish," Reese said. "It's an honor."

The Make-A-Wish Foundation of Alaska, Montana, Northern Idaho and Washington grants wishes for roughly 260 children each year, foundation wish coordinator Jessie Elenbaas said. There are currently 273 who have wishes pending through the foundation's regional chapter, she said.

About half the people who make wishes want to go to Disneyland or the Walt Disney World Resort, Elenbaas said. Another popular request is to meet celebrities, she said.

As Zach and his family posed for a picture inside a massive jet engine at the Future of Flight Museum, Elenbaas knew he had chosen his wish wisely.

"For kids interested in planes, this is the ultimate day," she said.

Reporter Scott Pesznecker: 425-339-3436 or spesznecker@heraldnet.com.