Eight-year-old Oban loves music; his favorite instrument to play is the piano. His mom says he is extremely bright and articulate, has a big personality and gets along with everyone he meets. Some of his favorite sports include hockey and soccer, but Oban and his family also love to watch football together. Most of all, Oban loves to be in nature, and he is fascinated by animals – he loves to research them, film them and get close up to wild animals. He also loves watching National Geographic and Wild Kratts on PBS. In fact, when he grows up, he wants to study and research animals and even film a documentary one day!

When it came to the wish selection process, Oban’s passion for nature and animals made the decision easy – he wished to be a National Geographic Researcher, so off he went to Collier County, Florida to observe and film wild animals with National Geographic Photographer Carlton Ward. Together they went behind the scenes to the Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary, where Oban exclaimed, “This is the perfect place for lizards, panthers, you name it,” and to the Naples Zoo, where Oban excitedly met Athena the panther. Oban was in his glory observing alligators, hogs, birds, and more.

But that wasn’t the end to his animal adventure. Oban also visited the Conservancy of Southwest Florida Nature Center and the Rookery Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve. After his wild animal fix, Oban and his dad relaxed with a special day and sunset dinner at the beach.

A special thanks to Robyn Whittingham for adopting Oban’s special wish, and a shout out to Make-A-Wish Southern Florida, Carlton Ward and the many community members who made Oban’s wish so magical.