SOUTHWEST MIAMI-DADE, FLA. (WSVN) - A young animal lover who has endured a health battle spent the day getting up close and personal with creatures of all shapes and sizes at Zoo Miami, thanks to the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
Wednesday was a very busy day for Brayton Kuhse. The 9-year-old could not wait to talk about the animals he touched.
“I held a snake, held a crocodile, and I touched a goliath tortoise,” he said.
Kuhse, a survivor of brain cancer, has had a tough few years, but thanks to Make-A-Wish, he was able to come all the way from Iowa to South Florida.
Zoo Miami’s Ron Magill supervised the boy’s walk on the wild side.
“My favorite saying in life is that life is not measured by the number of breaths that you take; it’s measured by the times your breath is taken away,” said Magill. “Hopefully we were able to take Brayton’s breath away a couple of times for some really good reasons.”
The private tour took place just in time for snack time at the giraffe exhibit.
Kuhse got the chance to make friends with the animals that call Zoo Miami home, including Peggy the elephant.
“Peggy, come on. I’m a special person,” said Kuhse.
But Peggy shook her head.
“Peggy, he loves you, he’s a special person,” echoed Magill. “Are you happy, Peggy?
Peggy continued shaking her head.
Kuhse also got to hold and learn about his favorite kinds of animals: reptiles.
The boy touched the tail of a small crocodile while a Zoo Miami employee provided details about the animal.
“You want to feel him right here, the osteoderm. That’s the scales there that protect him. Pretty cool, right? Those are actually made of bone,” said the zoo keeper.
For Magill, visits like Kuhse’s are one of the most satisfying parts of his job.
“These are one of the most special feelings we have here at the zoo, when you can enhance and enrich the life of any child,” he said.
“It was awesome. It was my dream!” said Kuhse.
“It was his dream, and it was more than I could have ever hoped for,” said Katie Kuhse, the boy’s mother, as she held back tears. “Thank you to Make-A-Wish and Miami Zoo. We appreciate it.”
Kuhse is such an animal lover that, he said, he would like to work with them full-time when he grows up.
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