News

Make a Wish Foundation flying Megan to L.A. to meet teen heart-throbs

Megan Edney and her friend Kadie Daves listen to a presentation about Megan's Make a Wish trip.

By Bill Moss, Published: April 26, 2019

Megan Edney's eighth grade classmates congregated outside school on Friday afternoon to celebrate her Make a Wish Foundation trip to Los Angeles this weekend, many of them envious that she would get to personally meet the Dolan twins, teenage heart-throbs and stars of YouTube.

As a heart transplant recipient, Megan can expect a lifetime of medical challenges. She's thankful to have received a life-saving gift, of course, though it comes with frequent checkups. One of the perks of being a transplant recipient is that she's eligible for a Make a Wish trip. Megan is getting her wish this weekend.

John Underwood, a regional Make a Wish coordinator from Asheville, explained that once a wish maker is identified, he works to make the wish come true. Megan didn't hesitate to ask for face time with the Dolans, who have a regular half-hour YouTube show and shorter videos of bloopers and other funny antics. Although her mom and dad, Lisa and Michael Edney, aren't familiar with the Dolans, they said OK.

"To honor Lisa and Michael, they said, 'It's Megan's choice.' We're going to L.A.," Underwood said.

Megan, 14, and her parents fly to Los Angeles on Saturday. She meets the twins on Sunday, spends the day at Universal Studios on Monday and flies home on Wednesday.

Originally from Morris County, New Jersey, Ethan and Grayson Dolan, 19, rose to fame through their half-hour YouTube shows on topics including "The search for our new pet," "Twins buy each other outfits" (5,018,992 views) and "Twins impersonate each other for a day."

Even though she was the honoree, Megan served cake to her classmates on Friday afternoon under blue skies and blustery conditions. Unless you're a teenager you might not even be familiar with the object of Megan's wish. Millions of teen-age girls and boys might say, Well, yeah! The twins have 6.4 million followers on YouTube. The twins' faces were on the cake and also on a poster that the eighth graders could sign. Many wrote messages, too.

Megan was hanging out on Friday with her best friend, Kadie Daves, who is also 14.

"When she sent me a snapchat that she was in the hospital, I started freaking out," Kadie recalled of the news 11 months ago about Megan's ambulance trip to Charlotte and diagnosis that she needed a new heart. When she found out more, she became even more upset. "I started crying."

Once she got used to the fact that they'd be visiting the social media stars, Lisa watched a YouTube video of the boys meeting a previous Make a Wish fan.

"They do make it special for them," she said. "Oh my God, she is crazy about them, all these kids are. She is nervous. She is thrilled."