Robbie’s wish for flying lessons inspires his career as a commercial pilot.

“It’s strange how life works,” said his dad, Dave. “We were a little late getting him his physical that year because of vacations and just things getting in way, but it was because we were late that the lymphoma had grown enough for doctors to notice. Had we actually taken Robbie for his physical when he was supposed to go, they likely would not have noticed it until it was a lot bigger.”

That lump changed Robbie’s life forever — but in a good way.

“Even when I was going through the worst of it, I just looked at [my diagnosis] as something that I had to make it through,” said Robbie.  “After that, I met the Make-A-Wish Arizona volunteers.”

Robbie remembers speaking with a volunteer just after his chemo was over.  Together, they talked about what Make-A-Wish did and all the possibilities available to him. They asked him what he liked to do and where he might like to go, and that is when his one true wish came out with an innocent statement: “I love to fly on planes. Maybe I could take flying lessons and fly a plane myself?”

Robbie did like all kinds of planes, building models when he was young.  His grandfather was a Navy pilot, although he died when Robbie was 7. He said he remembers always wanting to meet the pilots or asking for a chance to sit in the cockpit to see the buttons when he and his family took vacations to the Northwest to visit family. His father remembers Robbie as a toddler, playing most often with a Playmobil plane that he would drag around the house. 

“After meeting with the volunteers, there were a few months of waiting when we suddenly received a call asking if we could meet that weekend at Deer Valley Airport,” said Dave. “Within an hour of arriving, Robbie was in a Cessna 152 with a flight instructor and taxing for takeoff.” 

That flight instructor was Bill Magyr. Bill was Robbie’s primary instructor for his 20 lessons, and they still keep in touch. Bill is now a captain with American Airlines. 

“I can remember getting into the plane and having Bill look at me and say, ‘Well, are you ready? Go ahead. Take off,’” said Robbie. “And I remember I needed a booster seat to see over the dash, and my legs were not long enough to reach the pedals. It was surreal.”

Robbie relaxed into his lesson with Bill.  

“He was so great with me. We talked over what we were doing, the plane, everything I needed to know, but the majority of the time we spent together was spent up in the air,” said Robbie. “It was every bit as great as I had imagined and then some.”

The lessons lasted for a little more than 18 months, culminating in a special flight that Dave took with Robbie, a representative from Make-A-Wish and a television reporter. They flew over Robbie’s aunt’s house, where his aunt, mother and brother were standing waving at the plane from the back patio.                

“I know I didn’t appreciate in the moment what Make-A-Wish Arizona had done for me, getting me these flying lessons, but today, I can look back at it as the start of everything,” said Robbie, who is now a captain with SkyWest Airlines, shuttling passengers from Chicago daily. 

“Robbie finished high school and took a few college classes at NAU, but he knew in his heart he wanted to be a pilot, and he went after it,” said Dave. To make his career wish a reality, Robbie graduated from the School of Aerospace Science at the University of North Dakota and did a few months as a training pilot before he was hired by SkyWest. 

“I was not mature enough at the time to appreciate what my wish did for me,” said Robbie. “In fact, in the beginning, I felt guilty that I was getting a wish. I wasn’t sure I deserved it, but after a few lessons, I realized what a gift a wish was and how it gave me a new perspective, a sense of hope and strength when I needed it. Plus, it was such a feeling of excitement every time I got in the plane.

“Today, I still get that feeling of nervous excitement, that rush, every time I take off,” Robbie continued. “I was always interested in flying, passionate about planes, but Make-A-Wish Arizona provided me the foundation to realize not only my wish at that moment but my future too.”