Families of childhood cancer patients get a special trip to the North Pole
MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- Wisconsin kids took the trip of a lifetime Saturday morning, with a trip to the North Pole on "Santa's Flight to the North Pole."
Santa and his elves came together to invite 20 families of kids who have been diagnosed with cancer on the flight.
"[We had to] drove all the way to Milwaukee and then we had to go the airport, we got hot chocolate," said Adriana Butler.
She and her sister Alaina Butler went along with their younger brother Kaine to the Mitchell International Airport.
"And we got on the airplane," said Alaina.
That plane took them and their family to the North Pole to meet Santa and his elves.
"It's a pretty special treat for Santa and all the elves to meet all these families and spend some time with them," said Elf Laura Golner, adding that the military helped make it happen. "The military knew we needed a way to get them up here so we approached the 128th and they said they would be happy to fly the families up."
When they got off the plane, they were greeted by Santa and friends.
"We're here at the North Pole, my son, Kaine, who's right there, he got diagnosed with cancer in 2019 and we actually just celebrated one-year cancer-free yesterday," said Dad Akili Butler.
He says being there with his girls and Kaine means a lot because for the past few years, things have been hard for them taking the hour-and-a-half-long drive into Milwaukee constantly for his care.
"And that was just for like appointments, that wasn't even extended stays, so to take them to something like this just means the world," said Akili.
"It wasn't fun for us, we couldn't see our brother and we hardly ever got to see our dad because he was always with Kaine," said Alaina.
But now, they get to enjoy snacks, play games, and be a family together, while getting to visit Santa.
"And we're really happy to be here because it's special to us because our brother beat cancer," said Alaina.
Santa and his elves have been doing this since 1985.