UNION PIER, Mich. — On a beautiful summer day, the waves crashed against the Lake Michigan shore. Devin Loudy and his family descended a staircase to enjoy a long weekend in the sun. It wasn't just a vacation from every day life. For Devin and his family, this was a day when he didn't have to think about the fact he's battling brain cancer.
"It was their first time really together smiling, away from reality, if you will. And they just got to kind of be with each other," said emergency physician Dr. Gregory Taylor.
Loudy's trip to Lake Michigan was documented as the first episode in Dr. Taylor's new YouTube series called "Physicians For Wishes." The Fremont native came up with the idea after a similar experience his family had years ago.
"When I was still in undergraduate training, my mom was diagnosed with multiple myeloma. A few months before she passed, a family surprised us with a vacation getaway. It was actually to the Great Wolf Lodge in Traverse City," Dr. Taylor remembered.
"In those few days, we got to see her smile again, laugh again, and there was that brief period of time where she had forgot that she had cancer. That's something that you just remember forever."
For the most part, Dr. Taylor pays for Physicians For Wishes trips with money from his own pocket, but he also has donors helping him out. He has a GoFundMe page for anyone who would like to help him grant more wishes.
But the thing he needs more than anything else is nominations that will help someone with a critical illness.
"Those nominations can come from anybody - from family, friends, subscribers to the YouTube channel, literally anybody. I will try to provide and create that smile through literally anything. So it could be a ballgame, amusement park, a weekend getaway," Dr. Taylor said.
Dr. Taylor practices in Indiana now, but he's willing to travel across the Midwest to grant wishes. Anyone who has a nominee can email physicians4wishes@gmail.com.
"All I ask is who the nominee is? What are their top three wishes? Just give me an idea of the brief story, the contact info, and then the location."
Dr. Taylor believes his mom would be proud of the difference he's making in her memory.
"Our family vacation was in December, and then she passed away in February, so before I went back to undergrad in January, she said something along the lines of 'Stay strong. Always fight. Never give up. Know that I'll always be proud of you,'" he said with a tear in his eye.
"Having heard her say that, I think now, what I did with Physicians For Wishes, she'd definitely be smiling for sure.
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