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Launching a dream for Phelan teen
"I know God will do what needs to be done. If he wants me to keep living he'll keep me here." — Amber Wallace, 16-year-old cancer survivor
PHELAN • To see history happen, Amber Wallace took a route no one should have to take.
The Phelan girl early Monday morning saw what could have been the last nighttime launch for the space shuttle at Cape Canaveral, Fla. After several delays due to low clouds, the shuttle Endeavor took off at 4:14 a.m. eastern time for a 13-day mission to install pieces onto the International Space Station.
“It was pretty cool,” Amber said, adding that she could clearly hear the rumble and shake of the shuttle’s booster rockets from seven miles away, where her mom Robyn, dad Matthew and sister Patty watched the launch. “It’s something I’ll probably never forget.”
Amber, 16, went to Cape Canaveral as part of the Make-A-Wish Foundation, a national organization that helps children suffering from life-threatening medical conditions realize a dream. For Amber, recovering from a rare form of leukemia, that wish was to see a shuttle launch.
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