EAST AURORA, N.Y. — You wouldn't know it by looking at him, as he appears to be the picture of health.
But Noah Zapata, 20, lives with a chronic heart condition.
Long QT syndrome is where your heart's electrical system takes longer than normal to recharge between beats, and it can result in sudden death.
It caused Noah to have a heart attack while swimming in the school pool when he was just 10 years old.
Standing outside his home in East Aurora, Noah, who now works as a restaurant cook, recalled the event which occurred when he was in fifth grade.
"I was 10 years old, and it was insane. ... I literally died, you know?" he said.
To this day, his chronic condition necessitates frequent medical appointments and medication.
"And I actually have a defibrillator implanted in my side," he said.
Noah is older than the typical Make-A-Wish grantee, but not by much.
"His last heart surgery was actually two or three years ago," explained Ben Marchione, Regional Director for Make-A-Wish in Western New York. "And sometimes it takes time for a wish to come to fruition and for children to choose what they would like to have in their lives."
Total truck transformation
For a 20-year-old, a total truck transformation would be just the ticket.
Make-A-Wish saw to it that Noah's beloved Ford pickup got a lift, a grill, a sound system, rims and new tires.
Mechanics from 2480 Autos in Kenmore completed the work with Sunbeam Service Experts, and HVAC firm which is a major sponsor of Make a Wish, taking care of the costs
The work began in August, so it left Noah with no wheels for three months.
It seemed well worth the wait, though, when it was driven to his home and delivered to him in a parade including emergency vehicles.
"I have no words," he said, as he looked at the astonishing appearance of his truck. "It's beautiful ... like a piece of art."
Nice to see you again
Among the crowd of well-wishers on hand were three men who will be forever linked to Noah, and that near tragic day of a decade ago.
They were Chis Koselny, his swimming coach who plucked him from the pool; Joseph Ferrara, a now semi-retired police officer who used the defibrillator from his squad car to revive Noah; and Randy Ess, the firefighter who kept Noah breathing when he was rushed to the hospital.
Ten years later they came to see a wish come true for the boy they knew, now a young man, thanks in no small part to them.
"I hadn't seen Noah for a while, but when we do see each other, there is a difference in the way we connect versus maybe the connection I have with some other former students," Koselny said. "It's great to see where he's at today, and it just feels really good to see him have something like this happen for him."