I didn't know Metra hired engineers so young...
Train's whistle never sounded so good
MAKE-A-WISH | Blind boy takes turn as Metra engineer
June 6, 2007
BY TERESA SEWELL Staff Reporter/
[email protected]
Rubbing his fingers around Metra Engine 401's control panel, 11-year-old co-conductor Christopher Chappell felt his way back to the handle that performs his favorite action -- it toots the whistle.
Christopher, who is blinded by an incurable disease, was granted his wish to drive a train by the Make-A-Wish Foundation's Destination Joy Tuesday morning.
Christopher Chappell, 11, got his wish Tuesday when he drove a Metra train to Rochelle. Train engineer Tom Baldwin lends a hand.
(Jean Lachat/Sun-Times)
"Hi," Christopher yelled out the train's window as it pulled into Union Station. "Wa-hooo!"
Christopher is the second child in the program to assist a conductor in driving a train.
Lay's plans to help 100,000 kids
Former Wish kid Oliver "Ollie" Tibbles did it in 2003, and the locomotive on Metra's Burlington Northern Santa Fe Line was named for him after he died.
"Destination Joy," sponsored by Lay's potato chips, plans to grant wishes to about 100,000 children who will be diagnosed with life-threatening medical conditions in the next four years.
"[The ride] was good," said Christopher, who had family and friends on board for the hour-and-a-half ride. "I liked the whistle."
Christopher has Batten's disease, an inherited disorder of the nervous system that eventually totally disables the body. Two of his seven siblings also have the ailment.
Last fall, the foundation granted 8-year-old Elizabeth Chappell's wish to go to Disney World.
"That was fun," she said. She, too, is blind, but her vision stayed long enough for her to see her favorite "princesses," Jasmine and Ariel.
Five-year-old James Chappell clocked his brother's run.
"We're going faster again," he said as he looked out the window smiling.
James, who is currently losing his sight, has yet to plan for his wish.
Celeste Chappell, Christopher's mother, says her faith in God makes the situation easier.
She said she and her husband found out they both had a gene for the disease only after Christopher was diagnosed in 2005.
"Make-A-Wish is incredible," she said. "They've been such a spot of joy in our lives."
