Dmytri Christian Alexander is 10 years old and battling a rare form of cancer, but this week he got to trade hospital routines for a tarmac at Miami-Opa Locka Executive Airport, where he suited up to marshal a private jet. The wish, granted through Make-A-Wish Southern Florida, brought Dmytri and his family from the U.S. Virgin Islands to South Florida for a day built entirely around his fascination with planes.
Dmytri's father, Henry Christian Jr., said his son's love of aviation started small, with visits to the local airport back home just to watch planes take off and land. As Dmytri's illness progressed, that fascination only grew, and his mother reportedly took him to the airport almost every day to watch aircraft come and go, according to WSVN 7News. Make-A-Wish Southern Florida, whose territory officially spans 22 Florida counties along with the U.S. Virgin Islands, took on the job of turning that fixation into a full day of hands-on aviation experience.
A Day Built Around Every Aviation Fantasy
The day started well before Dmytri ever touched a jet. He climbed aboard an airport fire rescue truck, toured the aviation facility, and spent time inside the air traffic control room, all according to details relayed by the station. He also got a look at Coast Guard planes stationed at the field, a detail that fits Opa-Locka's role as home to Coast Guard Air Station Miami, which operates HC-144 Ocean Sentry turboprops and MH-65 Dolphin helicopters and is described as the busiest Coast Guard air-sea rescue station in the country.
The centerpiece of the visit came when Dmytri put on marshaller gear and guided a private jet across the ramp himself. Gustavo Vazquez, who leads Signature Aviation's operation at the airport, said Dmytri wanted to marshal the jet on his own and that he pulled it off without a hitch, telling the station Dmytri did everything perfectly. Signature Aviation helped Make-A-Wish coordinate the day's activities at the airfield, drawing on the company's 24-hour private aviation terminal and its global network of more than 200 locations.
Standardized Signals, Real Aircraft
What Dmytri practiced on the tarmac wasn't invented for the occasion. Federal Aviation Administration guidance in the Aeronautical Information Manual requires marshallers to use standardized visual hand signals and illuminated wands to guide pilots through cockpit blind spots, a system described by Metropolitan Airport News as an essential human link for pilots navigating crowded or noisy ramps. Opa-Locka itself is no small stage for a first attempt: the airport handles more than 28,000 private jet movements a year and features an 8,002-foot runway, according to the Miami-Dade Aviation Department, and its 193-foot control tower runs daily from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. under the FAA Contract Tower Program.
Before heading home, the family received personalized patches and pins sent by Signature Aviation, souvenirs from a day Henry Christian Jr. said brought him real joy just watching his son do what he'd always wanted. Christian Jr. also said he hopes Dmytri carries that initiative into pursuing aviation as he grows older, and per the station, a plane itself may be next on Dmytri's wish list.
Why South Florida Is the Bridge for USVI Families
Dmytri's journey to Miami reflects a pattern that extends well beyond one wish. Because the U.S. Virgin Islands has limited specialized pediatric oncology facilities, families there frequently travel to South Florida institutions such as Nicklaus Children's Hospital and Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center for treatment, making the region a natural hub for children like Dmytri even before Make-A-Wish gets involved. Make-A-Wish Southern Florida grants more than 600 wishes annually for local children while also facilitating hundreds of additional visits for wish families traveling in from outside the region, and the chapter opened a 30,000-square-foot permanent headquarters, the Finker-Frenkel Wish House, in Miami's Overtown neighborhood in March 2024 to serve as an interactive hub for children with critical illnesses.
The organization's research points to more than a nice afternoon behind wishes like Dmytri's. Make-A-Wish has found that granting a wish produces measurable physical and emotional health benefits, with the anticipation and memories tied to an experience contributing to higher treatment compliance and improved survival odds. It's a clinical rationale that sits underneath the tarmac visit, the fire truck ride, and the jet Dmytri got to guide across the ramp himself.
Hoodline has covered a similar career wish granted by the same chapter, part of a broader pattern of South Florida organizations stepping in to give children battling serious illness a taste of the future they imagine for themselves.
