A few days before the New Year, a 9-year-old boy named Evan was granted a wish: to fly from his hometown of Charlotte, N.C., to visit with Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos in Seattle. What followed, in Evan’s words, was nothing short of “epic.”
The trip was made possible by the Make-A-Wish Foundation, an organization focused on children who have one or more life-threatening medical conditions that are progressive, malignant, or degenerative at the time of referral, explained Trina Cottingham, vice president of wishes from the Make-A-Wish Washington and Alaska office.
Evan was referred to Make-A-Wish because he has cystic fibrosis. He also has a congenital heart condition called hypoplastic right heart syndrome. Evan, whose parents asked that his last name not be used, underwent three open heart surgeries before the age of 3 and now functions with what is essentially half of a heart. Needless to say, his health is a daily concern.
He became interested in Amazon and Jeff Bezos through watching YouTube videos about the company, said his mother, Melissa, in a phone interview. He was initially interested in drone shipping and development, but through YouTube, became enamored with Amazon’s warehouses and Bezos. Evan watched numerous interviews with Bezos and knew, for example, that his desk was made from a door and that Bezos’ brother is a volunteer fire fighter.
“He wanted to see the drones,” Melissa said. “He also wanted to tour the warehouses and he wanted to talk personally with Jeff.”
Initially, Evan waffled between wanting to meet with Jon Bon Jovi and Bezos, his mother said, but his interest in Amazon won out and Evan made a trip to see the online retail giant and its CEO his wish. Evan’s wish was the first ever for Amazon, Cottingham said, and she was gratified that Bezos agreed to the meeting without hesitation. He worked with Make-A-Wish to plan a day of fun for Evan; his parents, Bryon and Melissa; his grandmother, Linda; and his friend, James.
The adventure began when Evan and James got the day off from school and flew cross-country with Evan’s family to Seattle.
“When I arrived at Amazon, there were so many people holding up signs and they were all clapping,” Evan explained. “There were literally hundreds of people. And tons of dogs.”
After his arrival, Evan was invited to Amazon’s secret drone research center to do some drone testing, Cottingham said. Evan and James got to fly drones around the warehouse and Evan accidentally crashed his into the ceiling, where it got stuck.
“They had to go up with a ladder to get it down,” Cottingham said. “But the whole time, they were really nice about it. They said it showed that Evan was a good tester because you have to know what happens to a drone if it crashes.”
At the end of their visit to the drone research center, Evan and James were given their own consumer drones to take home.
From there, the party moved to the Amazon Prime Now Hub, a shipping delivery center, said Cottingham. As Evan was looking around the giant warehouse full of different items, a Prime Now order came in for an under-an-hour delivery for two Kindle Fires. Even was told to fill the order and then everyone piled into a Prime Now car to deliver it.
As it turned out, the order was for Jeff Bezos. Evan brought the Kindles to Bezos’ office, where Bezos signed them and then presented them to the boys as gifts. Evan and Bezos then spent the next period just talking.
“Talking to Jeff was the most memorable [part of the trip],” Evan said. “He was really awesome and seemed like a nice guy.”
According to Melissa, their conversation ranged from Evan’s dreams of becoming Amazon’s next CEO, to the presidential races, to their favorite cartoons.
After lunch in Amazon’s cafeteria, Evan went to visit Blue Origin, Bezos’ commercial space enterprise that aims to make space travel a reality. They got to sit in the mock up rocket ship bay, according to Cottingham, and they talked with engineers about space travel.
“Evan also went through a space phase,” Melissa explained. “So he really enjoyed Blue Origin.”
The adventure came to a close with a visit to Amazon’s Fulfillment Center in DuPont, Wash. The warehouse was the size of four football fields, Cottingham said, and there were robots everywhere, including Amazon Kiva robots, which roll shelving units around the facility.
On the car ride back from DuPont, Evan was elated, Cottingham said. “He kept repeating, ‘Do you remember how I met Jeff Bezos?’ …Then he fell fast asleep.”
Looking back on his experience, Evan said he had a great time visiting Amazon and getting to know Bezos.
“I would say it was the most epic experience of all time,” he said.
