Wish upon a fish

When 13-year-old Crystal Mercado of Odessa was fighting a life-threatening illness at Cook's Children's Medical Center in Fort Worth, her dream of training dolphins must have seemed unreachable.

But that's why the Make-A-Wish Foundation exists.

Crystal's mother, Denia Mercado, found out about Make-A-Wish from a social worker at Cook's. One referral and one granted wish later, and Crystal will soon be in Florida learning how to train the marine mammals.

Crystal fell in love with dolphins a few years back. After seeing one on video, she thought they were "pretty fish." Now she loves everything dolphin - "Flipper" is her favorite book, and her favorite movie is "Eye of the Dolphin" (about a teenage girl who learns to communicate with dolphins), according to a news release from Make-A-Wish.

Crystal and her mother leave Aug. 12, for Marathon, Fla., where the 13-year-old will spend two days at the Dolphin Research Center learning about dolphin behavior. Crystal will get to assist trainers in communicating with dolphins using hand cues similar to sign language.

Denia Mercado said her daughter's excited about the trip. Not only do they get to work with dolphins, but they get to tour the Florida Keys. Crystal likes to swim but has never been to the beach before.

"I get to go swim with them - I want a swimsuit," Crystal said.

Crystal is one of six children in Ector County to have wishes granted this year. Two more wish grants are scheduled before the nonprofit's fiscal year ends Aug. 31.

Regional development director Tina Corbett said more "wish granters" in Odessa could help that number grow next year.

The Make-A-Wish West Texas regional office is in charge of 42 counties stretching from Del Rio to Abilene and El Paso. This year, 75 wishes have been granted and another 20 are on tap in August.

In that 42-county area, Ector County is the only major county that doesn't have wish granters, Corbett said.

Serving as the liaison between the office and the family, Corbett said wish granters can be creative, like making decorative countdown calendars or leaving little presents indicative of the imminent wish to be granted. 

"They work with the children to determine what the wish is, then they grant the wish. They can also make the wish magical," Corbett said.

More wish granters in Odessa would allow more opportunity for the community to become involved, Corbett said, adding that Make-A-Wish can touch many people in a community, not just the parents and children.

Crystal's wish granters live in Midland. They'll throw a pool party there for her and her friends Sunday.

While eligible children in Ector County will continue to see wishes granted, Corbett said it would help the community if there were more volunteers in Odessa.

"Several wishes came in last week from Odessa, but there are no wish granters," she said Tuesday. 

WHAT ARE THEY?

>> Dolphins often capture the attention of people with their unique characteristics.

>> They actually have large brains, relative to their bodies. In fact, the bottle-nose dolphin's brain is only second to humans in ratio of brain size to body size.

>> Researchers have found parallels between the structure of dolphin and primate brains.

>> Dolphins can't drink salt water - they get their water from the food they eat, thus living like desert animals.

>> Dolphins have a unique whistle that identifies themselves. This is unusual in animals other than humans.

Sources: www.dolphinear.com/data/dolphins.htm and www.delfinologic.com