As Young Tyler Fights Cancer, He Gets To Teach Dolphins

When twelve year olds are asked what they want to do when they grow up they might answer athlete....or actor....or astronaut.
But, "marine biologist" is not usually at the top of the list.
That has not phased one Atlanta twelve year old....nor his family...nor the people who know of his wish.
This is the story of a young man who was given a special chance to see his future...even if he might not get there.

A father and his son are out on the water, enjoying a beautiful day....enjoying their time together.

The son is a natural talent on the water.

Tyler Williams loves the water...and the animals that live in it.
There are not many better places for him to indulge his passion than here...at Marineland in St. Augustine Florida.

The staff at Marineland has made special preparations for Tyler and his family to work with their dolphins.

When Tyler Williams' friends were outside playing baseball...or basketball...he was reading...about the oceans...and the fish...and the dolphins....and the people who study them.

It has been his dream to become a marine biologist, and today he gets to see what it's like.
This may be as close as Tyler Williams gets to that dream.
He has diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma...a brutal, vicious, monstrous form of brain cancer.

It's been very rough, you know", said Tyler's father Ian, "just watching your son go through, you know, radiation...chemotherapy. It's rough."

Tyler's family wants people to know about his cancer so that others who have to deal with this vicious disease are not blindsided...as they were.

The literature says Tyler does not have long to live. Tyler says the literature is wrong.

"Tyler was just....Tyler today and the past couple of days" said his mother Terri, "the old Tyler that we saw before everything came about."

Marineland....and Children's Healthcare of Atlanta...and the Georgia Aquarium aren't concerned about the literature either.
They have come together to give Tyler and his family an experience they will never forget.

"When somebody comes along who is so grateful to just...to spend an afternoon in our shoes" Marineland's director of education Terrin Rosenberg said , "when that makes them so happy, it really helps everybody put their lives in perspective."

Tyler and one of Marineland's thirteen dolphins, sonny, collaborate on a painting.

Both artists are happy with the results.
And then Tyler prepares for a more intimate encounter...leaving his world and entering theirs....

Tyler and the dolphins make a connection. He is happy.
. And...on this day...without a care.

"I served in the military for almost ten years" his father Ian said. "And....watching him...and a lot of people I served with....he's stronger than anybody that I know."

For as long as anyone can remember this is what Tyler has wanted to do.

"I was very pleased that he was able to see...and live....his dream" said mom Terri. "God forbid that he doesn't make it to where he wants to be...a marine biologist...that he did get a chance to experience it."

Most of us live our lives never knowing what it's like to do something we feel passionate about.
Now, Tyler Williams does.