His Make-a-Wish dream was to fly a plane, and 15 years later, this man is a pilot

An airplane and the setting sun.
(Image credit: Prakash Singh/AFP/Getty Images)

As a pilot for Skywest Airlines, Anthony Lickteig-Carter now flies over his childhood home in Minneapolis, where he used to dream about being a pilot.

"I can't remember not wanting to be a pilot," he told WCCO. "I came out with aviators on, ready to rock and roll." Lickteig-Carter, 29, was born with gastroschisis, meaning his stomach was outside of his body. He had to have multiple surgeries as a child, and after having his final one in 2001, the Make-a-Wish Foundation put him and his family on a plane; they flew to Milwaukee in first class, and Lickteig-Carter was given a pilot's uniform to wear, made an announcement over the loudspeaker, and was able to chat with the pilots and walk around the plane with them. "It was probably the happiest time of my childhood, right there," he said.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.