Trevor Stettler was just 6 years old and undergoing treatment for his Stage III kidney cancer when he came up with a wish.

The Tamaqua boy, who recently turned 10, wanted to experience crystal clear waters and beaches full of sand.

After a year of chemotherapy and radiation treatments - and surgery to remove a kidney - Trevor’s wish was granted by the Blue Ridge Chapter of Dream Come True.

Not only did he experience shimmering waters and soft sand, he sailed the ocean on a Disney Cruise, reeled in skipjack tuna and caught a SpaceX Starlink launch from Cape Canaveral.

Asked what he liked most about his vacation?

“Everything,” Trevor replied.

The trip, his father, Ken Stettler said, put a joyous spin on the harrowing time when his son was ill.

Trevor was diagnosed with cancer in 2019.

“He was feeling a little under the weather,” Ken recalled.

Trevor’s mother, Carmen Stettler, said a tinge of color in his urine turned out to be blood. Doctors ordered tests, but initially didn’t seem too concerned.

About a week later, Carmen and Ken heard the news no parent should hear: Their little boy had an advance stage of cancer that had spread to his lymph nodes.

“It was devastating,” Carmen admitted.

“You can’t really put it into words,” Ken said. “You can’t help but think ‘death sentence.’”

Trevor, a third grade student at Tamaqua Elementary School, received treatment from the Lehigh Valley Children’s Hospital in Cedar Crest.

The chemotherapy, radiation treatments and blood transfusions caused Trevor to feel sick and lose a substantial amount of weight.

“He wasn’t hungry so he wasn’t eating,” Carmen said.

Trevor’s medical team were about to place a feeding tube, but Trevor rallied.

“He was absolutely amazing,” Ken said. “He absolutely amazed us. The doctors and nurses said they didn’t know how to explain it. He responded so incredibly well.”

As he was shuttled back and forth for treatments, the family developed an “alter ego” for Trevor, Ken said, smiling.

“Obviously everyone in the hospital knew he was Trevor Stettler. But ‘Charlie Mack’ was his alter ego name. It sounded like such a powerful name. So Charlie Mack went through it. He’d walk in, and that’s what the doctors and nurses would call him,” Ken said.

Trevor’s treatments spanned through 2020, the year of the COVID-19 pandemic. The family heard of Dream Come True but didn’t expect anything to happen.

“COVID shut everything down,” Ken said. “So his treatments were done, he’s moving on with his life, he’s going to his follow-up appointments and everything feels beautiful and perfect.”

What made it even better, was an out-of-the-blue November call from Dream Come True board member Nicki Fox.

Fox told the family that they’d be granting Trevor’s “crystal clear waters” wish with a 5-day Disney cruise.

“It was the first wish we granted since COVID,” Fox explained.

Trevor’s family, including his sister, Casey, 17, and brother Kenny Jr., were surprised when a stretch limousine arrived to take them to the Newark Airport.

After touching down in the Sunshine State, they ferried by Uber to a Radisson resort hotel in Cape Canaveral. Along the way, they caught the SpaceX launch.

“It was completely unexpected,” Ken said.

The next day, the family boarded the ship, which Ken described as a 5-star hotel that featured everything imaginable.

The cruise took them to a Disney-owned island in the Bahamas.

“It was the kids’ first time being in another country,” Ken said. “They were really stoked about that thinking, ‘We’re not in America.’”

Fox arranged for the Stettler guys to go on a half-day fishing trip.

“I knew that Trevor loves to fish,” Fox explained.

Trevor said he baited his hooks with ballyhoo and reeled in a skipjack tuna.

“It’s different” than fishing for trout, Trevor noted.

Carmen and Ken said Fox went above and beyond to make the trip happen – and happen in a stress-free way.

Fox wrote a book with instructions on how to navigate the airports, how to arrange transportation, what to do at the cruise port. She even included contingency plans.

“Nicki made it so incredibly easy. There was not one hiccup. She took her own personal time to do this for us,” Ken said. “All of the fears of what we might encounter was completely alleviated. She made it so simple.”

“She made this trip so we could enjoy it without stressing about it,” Carmen added. “We are very lucky to have her.”

Since the end of 2020, Trevor’s scans have been clean, Carmen said.

“After 5 years, he will be considered cancer free,” she noted.

He’s been back to his normal routine of video gaming, riding his ATV, fishing with his dad and playing kickball and basketball.

“He’s outside shooting basketball right now. He’s really good at making baskets,” Ken said.

So good, he said, that Trevor, formerly known as Charlie Mack, has a new alter ego name. He’s known as “Buckets.”

Ken and Carmen said the Dream Come True trip was just what the family needed.

“When you get the diagnosis, you’ll never forget it. The treatments you go through, you don’t forget. They’re permanently etched in your memory. There are so many sad and scared thoughts that you have,” Ken said. “So it’s really nice to have made these amazing, wonderful memories to layer on it. Now it’s not like when you look back on the whole thing, it is sad. It brings a little bit of joy and light to the experience.”

Fox said the Blue Ridge Chapter of Dream Come True accepts referrals for terminally or chronically ill children ages 5 to 18. More information about the nonprofit organization is available at www.dreamcometrue-brc.org.