Forget Disney World, Make-A-Wish kid tours TVA

Jerry Wynne, standing at left, a senior manager with system operations for TVA, talks to 14-year-old Noah Caldwell, from Covington, Tenn., as he visits the TVA power operations center Thursday, Aug. 27, 2015, in Chattanooga, Tenn. Standing behind Caldwell are his parents, Shannon and Sam Leach. Caldwell's visit to the operations center was one of several TVA locations he toured to grant his request to the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
Jerry Wynne, standing at left, a senior manager with system operations for TVA, talks to 14-year-old Noah Caldwell, from Covington, Tenn., as he visits the TVA power operations center Thursday, Aug. 27, 2015, in Chattanooga, Tenn. Standing behind Caldwell are his parents, Shannon and Sam Leach. Caldwell's visit to the operations center was one of several TVA locations he toured to grant his request to the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
photo Noah Caldwell, a 14-year-old from Covington, Tenn., visits the TVA power operations center Thursday, Aug. 27, 2015, in Chattanooga, Tenn. Caldwell's visit to the operations center was one of several TVA locations he toured to grant his request to the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
Disney World is the destination typically chosen by kids with life-threatening illnesses whose families get a trip, or "experience," courtesy of Chattanooga-based Make-A-Wish East Tennessee.

Noah Caldwell was the first to want to see how the Tennessee Valley Authority makes and distributes electricity.

"It's way better than Disney World," the 14-year-old said Thursday morning. "I loved it."

photo Tori Lester, a business service representative with TVA in Jackson, Tenn., talks to 14-year-old Noah Caldwell, from Covington, Tenn., as he visits the TVA power operations center Thursday, Aug. 27, 2015, in Chattanooga, Tenn. Caldwell's visit to the operations center was one of several TVA locations he toured to grant his request to the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
photo Private duty nurse Rebecca Laing pushes 14-year-old Noah Caldwell, from Covington, Tenn., in his wheelchair as he visits the TVA power operations center Thursday, Aug. 27, 2015, in Chattanooga, Tenn. At left is Caldwell's mother, Shannon Leach. Caldwell's visit to the operations center was one of several TVA locations he toured to grant his request to the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

That was right after Caldwell toured TVA's System Operations Center, the high-security underground room in the agency's downtown Chattanooga office complex where employees watch banks of computer monitors and schematic diagrams to balance the supply and demand of electricity across TVA's seven-state service area.

Caldwell, who came to Chattanooga on Monday with his family from Covington, Tenn., near Memphis, had previously toured TVA's Chickamauga Dam, Sequoyah Nuclear Plant and the Raccoon Mountain Pumped-Storage Plant.

"I love electricity," he said, especially the hissing sound that electrical transmission lines make near Sequoyah.

"That's my favorite part. It sounds like the soap bubbles popping in your ear, like Rice Krispie treats," said Caldwell, who has "brittle diabetes," an especially severe form of the disease.

The teen's interest in electricity began three years ago, TVA Business Service representative Tori Lester said, when Caldwell started wondering about the power transmission system while getting physical therapy.

"He followed the lines all the way to us," said Lester, who works in Jackson, Tenn., and accompanied the family on their tour here.

TVA employees seemed just as excited about Caldwell's visit as Caldwell was.

"This is a treat for us, too," said Systems Operation Center Senior Manager Jerry Wynne, who led Thursday's tour. "It's just amazing to us that you've got this 14-year-old boy that is this interested in electricity and what TVA does."

Caldwell wants to get a degree in electrical engineering, and Wynne said the teen, who uses a wheelchair, might someday work at TVA.

"It's accessible," Wynne said. "It's all computer-based. I think he would fit in pretty well."

Make-A-Wish paid for the trip made by Caldwell, his parents, his day nurse and night nurse, and his 11-year-old brother, Seth, who also is in a wheelchair and has a day nurse.

Research has shown that youths who have a Make-A-Wish experience have better outcomes with family, friends - and with their medical conditions, said Bob Lewis, president and CEO of Make-A-Wish East Tennessee, which funds about 70 such experiences annually.

"We're really encouraging these kids, mentally, to stay in the game," Lewis said.

Contact staff writer Tim Omarzu at tomarzu@timesfreepress.com or www.facebook.com/tim.omarzu or twitter.com/TimOmarzu or 423-757-6651.

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