Make-A-Wish grants Connoquenessing 9-year-old’s wish to swim with otters
Throughout chemotherapy treatment, 9-year-old Maggie Daugherty had her stuffed otter, Emmett, with her to help comfort her through the process.
When Maggie’s mom, Betsy Daugherty, asked what she would like to do if she could do anything in the world, Maggie drew inspiration from the stuffed animal she has had since she was 2.
“It has always been my dream to pet an otter,” Maggie said.
Daugherty, of Connoquenessing, in April referred Maggie to Make-A-Wish, and almost a year after Maggie was diagnosed with a type of brain cancer, learned she was eligible to have her wish granted.
Come September, Daugherty, Maggie and Maggie’s younger sister, Meara Daugherty, would be at an animal sanctuary in San Diego, swimming with two otters named Hank and Emmett. The experience itself was not only unforgettable for the whole family, but it also helped keep Maggie hopeful during her time in intensive care at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh.
“It gave her something to look forward to through a big part of the chemo process,” Daugherty said. “We knew that wish was coming, so it was always a really bright spot.”
Daugherty said the staff of Make-A-Wish was great to work with, as she prepared to have Maggie’s wish granted. While Maggie also floated the idea to meet Taylor Swift as her wish, she settled on swimming with otters, after learning that Meara would not be able to join her and her mother at a concert.
Dana Antkowiak, director of marketing and communications for Make-A-Wish Greater Pennsylvania and West Virginia, said the Make-A-Wish chapter in San Diego had contact with an animal sanctuary that was certified by the organization to grant wishes. Nurtured by Nature is an official “Wish Maker” through Make-A-Wish, which allows visitors to touch and feed animals like foxes, sloths, armadillos, lemurs, capybaras and kangaroos.
The sanctuary is known for its Asian small-clawed otters, which are housed in its heated pool, allowing for people to swim alongside them.
According to Antkowiak, Make-A-Wish works with a patient’s family schedules, so they can find the time to have their wish granted around their treatment plan. Antkowiak said the wish granting is meant to help keep spirits high as a child is going through what is often an uncertain process.
“It's about bringing joy to a child and their family in a really difficult time,” Antkowiak said. “We view it as part of the treatment plan.”
Daugherty said no matter how difficult the treatment was for Maggie, the trip to pet otters was in the back of her mind as a respite for all the uncertainty she was going through in chemotherapy.
The reveal itself that Maggie and her family would get a trip to San Diego to swim with otters was a big moment, according to Daugherty. The Make-A-Wish staff had several days of activities planned, and the Daughertys would take the trip from Sept. 15 to 20.
“When they did the wish reveal, they set up a little party for (Maggie) and had gifts for her,” Daugherty said. “They came out like a week-and-a-half before our trip, and they brought out the itinerary and all these things they would be doing.”
Daugherty said her family has been to California before, but visited the San Francisco area, so San Diego was new territory for them. The Daughertys traveled to the West Coast, along with a family friend, Daugherty said.
The Daughertys’ five-day West Coast trip was filled with animal activity, which all built up to the otter visit on one of the last days of the trip. On their first day in San Diego, the Daughertys went whale watching on a boat. On the second day, they went to the San Diego Zoo, which had otters, building the hype for the swimming day even more.
On “Wish Day,” the Daughertys went to Nurtured by Nature, where they would pet capybaras, hold armadillos and get some porcupine quills to take home.
The main event was getting in the pool with the otters. Maggie said that while her wish was simply just to pet an otter, swimming with two of them was an activity she didn’t dream of.
“I'm glad that I did it,” Maggie said. “I never expected I would. It has always been my dream to pet an otter, but I got to swim with them.”
Being used to human company, the otters were friendly with the family, Maggie said.
“The otters would snuggle with you,” Maggie said.
Daugherty also said the swim exceeded her expectations. Each family member wore Make-A-Wish shirts into the water, which the otters sometimes tried to get into to snuggle even closer to the human swimmers.
Daugherty and Maggie both said the experience, which lasted for about one hour, was unforgettable, with Maggie continuing to talk about the trip to her friends at school.
And while Maggie still has a road ahead of her to have her cancer treated, Daugherty said she has remained in good spirits.
“It has been a time,” Daugherty said. “She's a brave little girl. She's got a really great outlook on everything; she's just a positive little girl.”
Even more unforgettable than the souvenirs the family got to take home with them from San Diego was the moment they learned that one of the otters they would be swimming with was named Emmett. Maggie named her stuffed animal Emmett after her dad’s favorite Christmas special, “Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas.”
Maggie’s dad, Matthew Daugherty, died in 2018, so to have a reminder of him while having her wish granted was a moving experience, Daugherty said.
“All of us gasped because her stuffed animal, Emmett, is the whole reason she got into otters. That was Maggie's dad's favorite Christmas show,” Daugherty said. “He was still alive then, and we named him Emmett. It was kind of like he was there with us.”
