NORCROSS, GA (CBS ATLANTA) -
It has been a long road for a little boy who has lived such a short time.
At 5 years old, Tyler Fravel is a very young cancer survivor. After a year and a half of debilitating chemotherapy treatments he deserves a vacation.
Tyler, along with his parents Carissa and Tom leave next week for a dream vacation in San Diego through the Make-A-Wish foundation.
Make-A-Wish children normally wait about six months. Tyler has waited 18 months because of a major backlog of children waiting for their dreams to come true.
"I've been waiting for a lot," Tyler said.
John Brennan, the CEO of the Georgia-Alabama branch, said donations have plummeted since '08 while the number of families asking the foundation for help jumped and costs skyrocketed 54 percent. Donations dropped at least six percent each year from 2008 through 2011 Brennan said.
Make-A-Wish has been forced to make about 600 ill children in Georgia wait as a result.
"The challenge we have is this bubble of wishes that accumulated during that perfect storm in those three years," Brennan said.
The foundation has launched its Wishes Can't Wait campaign and hopes to raise about $2.5 million to help children like Tyler.
"Wishes can't wait because they can't wait," Brennan said.
Tyler is so excited about his trip, he unzipped his suitcase to show CBS Atlanta News his favorite toys he will take with him.
"Scooby Doo! Say cheese, Scooby Doo!" Tyler said, referring to his stuffed cartoon character. "I think it's gonna be really fun 'cause there are gonna be big waves and I like waves."
"He wanted to go to the beach and see a train, they gave us both - we're going to a train museum and stay on the beach," Carissa Fravel said.
If you want to make a donation to the Make-A-Wish foundation, click here.
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Tyler Fravel
