Make-A-Wish pilot David Harris, left, shows wish recipient De'Marcus Dews the cockpit of the plane before taking off for Charlotte today. Make-A-Wish granted Dews' wish to meet Michael Jordan.
(AP Photo/Stephan Savoia)As the family began to make its way toward the six-passenger plane that would fly them to Charlotte, Tim Dews looked at his son D'Marcus and smiled.
"It's like M.J. used to say before he would dunk, 'Time to take flight, man,'" Dews said.
Thanks to the Make-A-Wish Foundation, D'Marcus Dews, a 16-year-old Brainerd High School student who is battling brain cancer, flew Thursday morning from the Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport for a weekend trip that will include a private lunch with Michael Jordan.
Dews, his father and mother, Cheketia Flippin, and a cousin also have tickets to a Charlotte Bobcats NBA game Friday night. The lunch with Jordan is Saturday before the return trip Sunday.
"I never thought I would ever even fly in an airplane," D'Marcus said. "Doing that and getting to meet Michael Jordan, this is the most exciting thing that's every happened in my life."