'He’s very lucky to be alive'

After being severely injured in a car accident a little more than two years ago, Wyatt Marshky did the unbelievable. He survived and got the chance to live out some of his wishes in Destin last week.

Wyatt, 18, who lives in Monticello, Illinois, was the recipient of a paid vacation courtesy of a group called Wishes on Wheels.

Wishes on Wheels is an organization of motorcycle riders that do fundraising in order to help out children who are going through traumatic difficulties such as cancer or anything that is huge.

“My son was in a car accident and almost died in March 2017,” said Michelle Marshky. “I can’t even count how many surgeries he’s had.”

Wyatt, who was 16 at the time, was in a medically induced coma from March 11 to the end of April in 2017.

She had gone to the scene of the accident, where he had to be airlifted, and then to the hospital.

“I was told I needed to prepare myself that he wasn’t going to make it,” she said.

However, she said the medical personnel didn’t know who they were dealing with, that Wyatt was stubborn just like her and that he’d pull through.

“And sure enough he did. It’s been a crazy roller coaster that’s for sure,” she said.

Michelle explained that two year’s later they are still having to deal with things such as daily pain and nerve damage. Plus he’s has a colostomy bag for life.

“When he got ejected from his car he got impaled by a tree branch ... and then he fell into a ravine. He’s very lucky to be alive,” she said.

Since then he was nominated and chosen to be the recipient of the Wishes on Wheels. As a matter of fact he was actually chosen last year, but Marshky said they put their trip off year in order for him to get stronger so he could enjoy himself more.

And enjoy he did.

“I thought it was great and I had a lot of fun,” said Wyatt, who was back at home Monday in Illinois.

His six-day trip to Destin was packed with eating seafood, go-cart rides, time on the beach and deep sea fishing.

When asked what was the highlight of his trip, he was quick to say “deep sea fishing.”

Wyatt had got the chance to go on a fishing trip with Capt. Scott Robson on the Phoenix.

“I’d never been before and we caught quite a few. We were fishing for less than 30 minutes and we caught like 18 fish,” he said.

In addition to fishing, Wyatt said he enjoyed the food and the Olin Marler Dolphin Cruise trip.

“This was my kid’s first vacation,” Michelle said, noting it was their first time on a plane and first time to the beach.

Why Destin?

“We had heard how beautiful it was … the white sandy beaches. But beautiful doesn’t even describe it. There’s not a word to describe how beautiful Destin is,” she said.

Not only did Wishes on Wheels help to make his wishes come true but different folks around Destin as well.

Pelican Beach Resort helped out with rooms, tickets, gift cards and beach service. Tailfins helped out with meals and the dolphin cruise was donated as well as the trip aboard the Phoenix. Michael Turner Shuttle LCC provided their service to and from events.

“We had just a really good time just being on the beach. We just had a blast doing everything … no complaints whatsoever,” Michelle said.

“I’d love to come back again … it helped to be able to relax,” Wyatt added.

But for now he said, “I’ve got to work on getting my endurance back up so I can walk around and do more stuff. I’m in pain quite a bit. I have problems with that every day.”

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