A little boy battling a serious illness got to live out his dream of driving a locomotive on Thursday.
Connor Foland, 6, has loved trains since he was a toddler, so the answer was easy when his parents asked, “What’s one thing you would want to do?”
He wanted to drive a train.
"They're cool," the excited little boy said when asked why he likes trains so much.
Connor and his older brother have a rare genetic condition called ALD, which can impact the brain.
Union Pacific and Make A Wish teamed up to let the little boy become a train engineer for a day.
Connor got his very own engineer outfit complete with a Union Pacific badge. His face lit up when he saw the train coming down the track.
He drove the real engine down the track, and learned a thing or two from the real engineer.
"Can you tell her what this is?" the engineer asked.
"The bell!" Connor replied confidently.
"What's this?"
"The horn!" He said as he honked it.
Connor also got a new toy train with his name on it to take home.
“It’s the greatest feeling ever. It’s amazing," said his mom Brianne Foland.
"It's an amazing feeling seeing him so happy, seeing him looking at everything, learning about everything," his dad said.
The energetic little boy loved every second. Seeing his joy was a dream come true for his whole family.
If you'd like to learn more about the Make-A-Wish program or to donate, click here.
