Dream Makers gives two terminally ill best friends their final wish
Two central coast friends battling cancer at the same time got a special gift they only dreamed would come true.
Aaron Anderson and Ray Shoemaker are best friends. They say they have spent twenty years together, but never did they imagine they would battle cancer together too.
“It has been a while, the treatment has been rough, I have been suffering for years,” said Anderson.
The two friends, both diagnosed as terminally ill, are fanatic football fans. Aaron is a lifetime Seattle Seahawks fan, while Ray is a devoted San Francisco 49er’s fan.
It was Anderson and Shoemaker’s oncologist, Tom Spillane, who was moved by the two men. Spillane describes them as gracious and humble. He contacted Dream Makers when he heard their favorite football teams were playing each other in Santa Clara.
“I feel very privileged and honored to be a part of this because it’s a very small tight community here, and we treat outpatients like they are our friends and family,” said Spillane.
Dream Makers is a nonprofit San Luis Obispo organization that helps people with a year or less to live. The organization makes their final wishes a reality.
Dream Makers made Aaron and Ray’s final dreams come true.
Not only did Dream Makers make watching the football game for the two buddies possibe, but the organization also made sure they got V.I.P treatment. Anderson and Shoemaker got to ride in a private plane and meet some of their favorite players after the game.
“We have to do stuff like this in our own community because so many people think …someday they will do it, and for a lot of people someday comes a little too soon,” said the founder of Dream Makers in San Luis Obispo, Ronda Beaman.
Aaron and Ray took off from San Luis Obispo County Regional Airport for their final dream trip with smiles on their faces and hope in their hearts.
“This is an awesome opportunity. I never could have imagined anything like this, so it means a lot to me to be able to do this,” said Shoemaker.
